Surprise For a Feral
by Canucklehead Cowgirl
Summary: When a black ops group starts picking up mutants, the X-Men intervene. This story follows the life of one of the three women that are nearly taken captive. OC's, deviates from current 616, some OOC, depending on what story lines you've read. NO Movie story lines/pairings. Little bit of love for everyone! Rude reviews will be ignored.
1. Have you met K?

The three women had been travelling together for a long time. Longer than they had thought, truth be told. Chloe and Zoe were sisters, and they'd bumped into K not long into their trip. She'd gotten them out of a tough spot and for some reason she let the sisters stick with her as she moved through the countryside.

She didn't know how long she'd been moving, and the girls thought that they were doing her some kind of favor just from being with her. The truth was that having two teenaged girls with no street sense dragging behind her had made her moving undetected nearly impossible. She felt an odd sense of responsibility for them though that kept her from ditching them, even when it got too hot. She had pulled their chestnuts out of the fire more times than they could count. The woman was a SURVIVOR in every sense of the word, and was the most tenacious person either had ever met. She dragged them along with her, keeping them safe from the men chasing them. Until now, it had been a matter of evasion & hiding. It would have remained that way too, until Chloe decided she just couldn't take the rough lifestyle that they were living and snuck off while K slept to get herself a coffee from Starbucks.

When she got up to pay she realized she didn't have the cash on her, but the smells drifting out of the cafe had called to her and her mouth watered thinking of the pumpkin latte with her name on it. She broke one of K's cardinal rules and handed the cashier her credit card. When she returned to the camp, baked goods in hand for all, the smell woke K from her rest. She glared at the girls.

"Where did you get the money for that?" she asked them, hoping that they weren't so stupid to break one of her rules. She didn't need them to answer though. Their guilty look was enough. She snatched the wallet off the girl and rifled through it until she found the card and snapped it into pieces, standing quickly and slipping on her backpack.

"MOVE. We have to get as far away from here as possible NOW." K growled, picking up their packs.

The girls didn't understand why. Chloe even thought the woman was insane. She crossed her arms, ready to start bitching about K breaking the card when not a half mile away a black helicopter descended silently in an open field, under cover of trees, and out of plain sight of the town nearby. She pointed as it landed.

"You see THAT. That's what you just did. THAT is what I've been avoiding."

The sisters were terrified. Chloe started blubbering an apology, but K just shoved her backpack at her and told her to keep quiet and move fast. They had trouble keeping up with her as she weaved through the trees, deeper into the woods. They'd gotten better at this, but K made it look easy. Every now and then, she'd stop and stretch out as tall as her little 5'2" frame would allow, close her eyes and breathe deeply, before sometimes changing directions, and telling the girls to get lower into the ferns. They'd gone several miles through the woods when they came up on a clearing that was clearly a dairy farm. She made them skirt the field until they were somewhat close to the large barn. They sprinted to the barn, slipping in unseen. K then led the girls into the hay loft and started re-arranging hay bales.

"It doesn't matter what you did, it matters what you do now. They are coming. We're not far enough away, and it's all farms for the next 50 miles. Not nearly enough cover to run during daylight and it'll be hours before dark. Get in the hay." She ordered them.

She showed them a small cave she'd made from the bales They followed her directions.

"Whatever you do – whatever happens Do NOT come out. Remember what I taught you. Hide until they're gone. You have food and water for at least 3 days. Stay here until it's gone, then go. Got it?" They looked at her wide eyed.

"Aren't you coming with us?" Zoe asked.

She didn't answer, just stacked the bales up to hide the girls a little better then froze, giving them the signal to be quiet. She padded silently near to the outer wall and spotted a few black ops men skirting the far edge of the hay field, several hundred yards west of where they'd come out of the woods, and they were moving towards the barn. She slipped out of the hay loft and found a shovel. The handful of cows in the barn ignored her, chewing their cuds, and going about their business. She found what she hoped would be a good ambush to the most likely entrance to the barn as the soldiers advanced. The girls were peeking out of the crack that K had left them and could just barely see her at the door, shovel in hand, ready to throw down as soon as one of those men took a step into the barn. She didn't have long to wait. The first man went down quickly, but the two behind him rushed her, one tackling her to the ground as she was swinging. She fought hard but the first man recovered quickly from her shovel hit and tackled her as she stood. Another grabbed her arms and they flipped her over so one could sit on her stomach, punching her over and over while the second held her hands down until she'd passed out. Working fast, they handcuffed her and slapped a collar on her before starting their search of the barn. More men filed in ... they were bound to find them. Fear gripped Chloe ... she just stared at her terrified sister, wide eyed, shaking ... and Zoe mouthed to her _we should fight too._ The girls burst out of their haystack, Zoe blasting her shockwaves ahead of her, and Chloe commanding the barns residents ... unfortunately, mostly rats, mice and cows to attack the men. Their fight didn't last long, the girls were shot with darts, and handcuffed before any of men were down.

K started to wake up as they were dragging them out of the barn. She looked towards the unconscious sisters, and her heart fell. These girls didn't deserve this. She never should have tried to keep them with her. She should have called one of those places that takes in lost & homeless mutants. The soldiers had the two girls tossed over their shoulders like sacks of potatoes, and two were dragging K by her elbows with her hands cuffed behind her back, her stumbling along, dazed and bleeding from the beating they'd given her. Several unmarked panel vans and a couple humvees pulled up near the barn as the men dragged her across the field. When she saw the vans, she started to struggle, digging her feet into the soft dirt, pulling back as hard as she could, but the two men were much bigger and stronger than her and after a struggle, and her trying to bite one, They threw her to the ground and carried her with one holding her feet and two more at her elbows.

As they were opening the doors to the vans, the winds picked up tremendously. She looked up towards the darkening sky – was that a jet? Didn't look like anything she'd ever seen. Shape was all wrong. Without any further warning, the men shouting around her opened fire on the aircraft. The unconscious girls were forgotten momentarily, and the men carrying her dropped her face down in the dirt. When she rolled over and tried to stand, one of the men that had been holding her cracked her in the temple with the butt of his rifle. All she heard was more gunfire as the wind whipped up and she slipped into blackness.


	2. Settling in

K woke up slowly. She heard beeping. She was lying flat. She didn't feel any restraints, but she still didn't move a muscle, or open an eye. She tried to keep her breathing even and slow. She could still feel the collar. Shit. She flexed her hands and legs testing to see if she was restrained. She was shocked to find none. She cracked an eye open as easy and slow as she could. A lab. Fantastic. Her luck didn't ever seem to go to the positive. She didn't know who had her - were the girls there too? Throwing back the fear of what was sure to come, she opened her eyes fully and looked around. She was virtually alone. The girls were not anywhere near, though, she didn't expect them to be. Far to her left, and a fair distance away, was a very furry blue man in a lab coat, and a tall redheaded woman. _What did these bastards promise that blue fella to have him experimenting on his own? _She thought. The pair looked up at her suddenly - shock was written all over the woman's face.

"Hello," the blue man started, "Welcome. You seem to be in good health. We are trying to get that collar off of you, but to be honest, it's not one we've seen before, and we're erring on the side of caution for now. How do you feel?" She stared at him for a moment, confused.

"What are you going to do to me?" She asked quietly, but with an edge to her voice.

"TO you? Oh, no, my dear. We aren't like that. We want to help you. help you to hide, if that's what you need, help you to hone your abilities, and as I stated earlier – remove the inhibitor collar that is currently on your neck." Hank said, trying to come across as friendly.

"I don't need to hone anything. Where are the two young women I was travelling with?" K asked with a stern tone.

"They are, I believe in a mathmatics class, at the moment. They had not been hampered with inhibitors as you were, so they are in full control of their abilities. They seem quite settled in." he told her matter of fact-ly.

"Settled in," she said thoughtfully. "How long have I been out?"

"Three days." the woman stated, "You've been here for three days. We were a bit concerned when you didn't wake up right away. You still have a nasty black eye from that hit from the soldier." she looked concerned.

The color drained from K's face, and she felt suddenly sick to her stomach. _three days? I've never been out of it for that long. _Her hands went to her hair as she curled up into herself, drawing her knees to her chest. She ran her hands over her head, her fingers touched the metal collar that sat right over her voicebox. Her throat tightened, and suddenly she felt as if she could vomit.

Alarmed, the woman ran to her side, and helped her towards a basin.

"Don't panic - we will find a way to get that off. Just breathe, try to be calm, and let's get you all cleaned up - you'll feel much better after a shower, Im sure." the redhead told her, a friendly smile on her face.

K knew the woman was right, but it just sounded insane to her at that moment. When was the last time she even HAD a real shower, she wondered. It seemed like all she could remember was taking a swim through a river, lake, or just stripping down in a downpour. Yeah, that really sounded great, hot water ... soap. K took a deep cleansing breath, and nodded her head.

"Thanks." she said, still warily looking around the lab.

A small, kind smile appeared on the woman's stunningly lovely face.

"You're very welcome. I'm Jean, by the way - that, is Hank, our resident Doctor. If you need anything at all, just feel free to ask. We really do just want to help." She stated softly, gently.

"Why don't you come with me, I'll get you to a private shower, and find you some clean clothes while everyone is in class, then I can show you around." K just nodded, still very tired from whatever it was that went down in that old barn. She'd heard of a place like this, but it was a time zone away from where the barn was.

"You can use my bathroom, no one will bother you there." she said as she put her hand on K's shoulder, guiding her to the elevator. Her muscles automatically tightened and her chest constricted in nervousness and a general distrust of anyone. Jean tactfully ignored it, as if she were used to this kind of reaction. She guided K down a hallway, up a grand flight of stairs, and down a second hall to her suite, where she ushered her to the bathroom, and started up the shower.

"You just take your time, I'm a telepath, so if you need anything, just kind of shout it in your head and I'll hear it." Jean said to her and closed the door behind her.

_Where the hell am I anyhow?_ She thought to herself. K looked around the bathroom for any hidden cameras or panels then she checked the mirror to see if it was really two way glass before stripping off her filthy clothes, and folding them neatly into a stack on a dirty towel before looking into the mirror.

"Oh God." she said out loud. Her hair was a tangled filthy disaster, leaves and hay poking out here and there. She couldn't tell where the dirt ended and the bruises began. She looked to her hands and realized they weren't much better. She didn't recognize herself anymore. Without waiting a moment longer, she grabbed a washcloth off the stack in the linens and jumped into the shower. Face to the water, she closed her eyes and just felt it cascade down her body. She soaped up the cloth and started washing her face, enjoying the feel of the soap moving the dirt off, even where her face was so tender. She picked up the nearest bottle of shampoo and took a sniff. It smelled like diluted cologne ... must be Jean's husbands' brand. She looked around a moment, and found a comb - it would be smart, she thought, to remove the tangles and debris. 10 minutes later, she was finally lathering up. The scent of flowers surrounded her ... and she watched the dirt swirl down the drain. she scrubbed every inch of herself at least twice, and ran her hands all over her body and scalp, searching for ticks – a common hazard of living in the woods. She tried to slip a washcloth between the metal collar and her skin. She pulled it back and forth just a bit, then unexpectedly a white hot blinding pain hit her, and knocked her on her back, bleeding from the back of her head, water swirling the blood down the drain with the bubbles. _Fantastic._ She thought._dirty neck it will be._ She got up slowly, head pounding and Jean knocked on the door, with a stack of clothes in her hands

"Are you alright? What happened?Did you pass out?" She was alarmed and suddenly K felt very stupid.

"No, well, yeah, but I'm fine. I tried to wash under the collar. Should have known that wasn't a good idea." she said to her, rather embarassed. She cracked open the shower door and peeked out at Jean so she could see her head

"Little bit more bloodied and bruised, but I'll live ... see?" K shrugged and tried to smile back to her as Jean rushed over to see her head. Then she gasped. K cringed. Must be worse than she thought.

"I'm so sorry ... I didn't mean to react that way," she started, shaking her head and staring at K, "but well, I'm sorry, we didn't clean your whole face now ... you're going to fit right in.' she continued to stare, and suddenly K felt quite awkward. Turning red, she quietly closed the door again, staring at the floor. _Must look a lot worse than I thought._ K thought to herself.

"No," Jean laughed, "You were just so covered in dirt ... the girls said you were always a mess, I don't think they'll recognize you." She could hear the smile in her voice.

"When you get out of there, feel free to help yourself to anything you'd like - hair products, makeup ... My friends are going to be tickled ... this means another shopping trip for your clothes." K finally laughed a bit,

"Sure, makeup ... I'll get right on that." Jean left her to finish up, and she did, rushing through the last bit of washing. She dried off quickly, towel dried her hair, picked up the mess, and slipped on the clothes Jean had brought for her. She'd guessed K's sizes pretty well, though she had to roll up the legs of the blue jeans. She went over her hair one last time before slapping it into a haphazard ponytail and finally looking into the mirror. She thought if the right side of her face didn't look like road rash, she could pass as human. She draped her long brown hair over the bruised portion of her face. Just then, there was a knock at the door,

"Whenever you're ready, I can take you down stairs, Jean had to start up a class so she'll show you around afterwards, I'm just supposed to be sure you get a bite to eat." He smiled as K opened the door.

"I'm Scott, by the way." his hand outstretched, "It was my team that found you and the girls. Sorry I didn't get to introduce myself properly last time, but it got pretty hot for a minute there, and you were kind of unconscious by the time we got you on board."

She took his hand and looked towards his covered eyes.

"Yeah, sorry about that. I never should have let them get that close." She said, sounding ashamed of herself. He looked taken aback.

"Well, come on - I know you haven't eaten in a few days anyhow." He showed her how to get to the kitchen, even went so far as to make her a sandwich. He was kind enough to not pick her brain while she ate, just kept her quiet company, which K was grateful for. When she was done, he told her she had an appointment.

"Jean's class doesn't get out for another half hour, but the professor would like to meet with you. he's free right now, so if you'd just come this way, he has some questions for you." Her stomach twisted. The Professor? That can't be good. Sounded familiar and very, very bad. She was apprehensive and still didn't really have clue one as to where she was or who these people were. She was growing concerned that there were some less than honorable reasons for them having liberated her and the girls from that black ops group.


	3. Meetings

K padded silently behind Scott as he led her to a tall set of mahogany double doors, her heart pounding. "Please, come in." She heard quietly from the other side. Scott smiled at her as he opened one of the doors, and gestured for her to go in. Scott followed, closing the door behind him. Hank was there, seated already, and rose to shake K's hand, greeting her as if they'd been old friends.

"I'm glad to see you on your feet, K." the bald man behind the desk started out, "My name is Charles Xavier, and this is our school for young mutants. You and your friends will be quite safe here, I assure you. One of our associates is currently on his way to figure out how to remove that barbaric device around your neck. Please, have a seat, I've some questions for you."

His tone was kind, and had a quality to it that made her relax, so she sat between Hank and Scott, who held her chair for her. _Perfect gentlemen, all of them_. She thought to herself. She felt awkward with such kindnesses directed to her. "Thank you," She whispered to Scott as she sat, back bone straight, knees together, and hands on her knees, like any lady would. The professor's eyebrow went up as he watched her compose herself. He was used to a younger crowd that hadn't been taught yet to act like a lady, and from what the two girls had told him already about their time with K in the woods, it took him off guard. He smiled kindly

"You aren't as young as you look, are you, K?" He asked quietly.

"Is that a complement or a question?" she asked, her eyes sparkling.

"Fair enough," he replied with a smile. "Take it as a complement for now. Could you tell me, by chance, what abilities you posess?"

Her eyes went wide. "I heal quickly- and I've been told I have exceptional senses."

Scott's looked taken aback and Hank quickly cut in.

"Is that all?"Hank asked. She eyed him suspiciously - why would he suspect more? What did he know? Scott saw the apprehension she had and decided to try and diffuse the situation.

"Can you tell us about your past, or even why that team was after you?" he asked, sounding a little bit businesslike.

"I don't remember much. I remember running. Fighting. Trying to help those girls. Being caged a few times ... but that's about all." She replied quietly. She thought perhaps they wouldn't ask more questions if she acted like it wasn't a horrifying experience. There was a long pause before Charles cautiously looked up and spoke again, choosing his words carefully.

"Would you allow me look into your mind and see if we can decipher who you are?" He asked, watching her body language carefully as she thought it over. Butterflies rose up into her throat, and before she really thought about it she heard herself agreeing to it.

"Just calm your mind, relax, and concentrate. I will do the rest." he said, raising his hands to her temples.

She took a deep breath, and tried to ignore her apprehension. She felt a rush as Charles swept through her memories. She started to feel dizzy and suddenly lurched forward. When she opened her eyes, she found herself halfway out of her chair, and Charles holding her by the shoulders. Scott helped her to a chair, gently, and when she looked at Charles, his expression is somber. He nods to Scott, and Scott rises up ... it's just then that she realized that Hank is already gone. Charles wheels back around his desk, his fingers tented in deep thought. He looks over to her and takes her hand in his.

"'I'm very sorry for all that those people did to you. We will protect you if you want us to. You are welcome here indefinitely." She's a bit confused, and relieved at once.

"That's all?" she asked. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

He looked very sad and a bit angry. "I found a great deal of mistreatment done to you, and sadly it's not the first time I've seen such abuses." he told her. She was taken aback.

"How many others are like me?" she asked, her throat feeling tight.

"One of our group has been through some similar mistreatment, though his abuses were unbelievably, worse than you've been subjected to so far." He told her, steel in his eyes. She got the sudden impression that even though this man was quite gentle and kind hearted, he too could have a sharp edge to him. She vaguely wondered if it was a trait all mutants were born with, or one they were forced to develop over time. She also wondered what they'd done to their team mate that was so horrid that the memory of it caused this sweet man to look so hard.

Just then, Jean came in to show her around.

"I found a room for you. You're just down the hall from me if you need anything. It's a quieter area of the teacher's wing." She said to K, smiling as she walked to her. K's throat wasn't working right, and she grimly nodded to the professor in thanks and quietly followed Jean out of Charles' office.

The hallways were filled with teenagers. Noisy, laughing – acting like normal kids, teenagers. K watched them warily, surprised at the sheer volume of them. She automatically scanned the crowd as she and Jean passed through it, relief hitting her as she spotted the two girls, Chloe and Zoe.

"Wait a minute, Jean." she said to her quietly before calling out to the girls. Their heads popped up automatically at the sound of her voice, searching the crowd, but not seeing her until she was nearly on top of them. Their faces were of pure shock.

"K?" Chloe asked, turning her head to the side, her face scrunched up. "You look so – different!"

"Different?" Zoe asked looking at her properly. "Why isn't your face fixed?" she asked.

"The collar she has on is stopping her abilities from working, girls." Jean cut in. "You can talk later – you have a class to get to, don't you? Professor Munroe doesn't tolerate tardiness."

"Of course, Ms. Summers." Zoe said, looking at the ground. "See you later, K." she said smiling as the girls turned and ran to their next class.

"That is so weird." K said, watching them as they turned into a classroom.

"What's weird?" Jean asked her.

"All of it." She replied. Jean just laughed at her, teasing that she knew the girls would react that way to her as they continued their walk to her new lodging.

The room Jean set her up in was far removed from all but one room, and was indeed a few doors down from Jean and Scott. The only other resident was directly across the hall. She named off who was where, telling her that she'd meet most of them at dinner later tonight, and glossed over the door across the hall.

"Who's over there?" K asked her, wondering why she'd left out the one person she'd probably have to see from time to time.

"That's Logan's room. I'll introduce you when he returns. He's involved in several different teams. We never know when he's going to be here, and when he is, he usually keeps to himself." She explained.

K just nodded, with a little smirk. _ Look__s__ like I__'m__ was in the outsiders zone. Good. _She thought.

Jean left her to settle in after showing her the finer points of the room, and promising to take her out for clothes and all the little things women like to have around for their hair and makeup. Introductions would happen at dinner, and with luck, their tech expert should be here within a few days. The room was nice. it was a suite, really, private bathroom, balcony, and a nice large bed. She had little in the bathroom aside from some soap. Looked like Jean was right, a shopping trip would be in order. She hoped that they'd be able to get it done soon, as now that she was clean, she preferred to stay that way.

She laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling when there was a knock at the door.

"Come in, it's open." K called out. The door creaked open to reveal a very pretty brunette girl with curly hair.

"Hi, K - I'm Kitty ... Jean told me to bring you down for dinner?" She told her, smiling. K nodded and sat up.

"Nice to meet you." K replied as she stood up. Kitty gasped

"They didn't get the collar off?" She asked, looking surprised.

"Nope."

"Well, you can sit by me, if you'd like. I'll point out everyone before we get formal on you." Kitty told her with a smile. K just nodded back.

They sat at a long dining room table, facing the windows, and the view was lovely. A forest was visible a fair distance out past a well manicured rolling lawn. K stared out at it somewhat longingly, thinking of the quiet she always found in the woods. Kitty whispered to her who everyone was as they filed in, all curious at the new woman at the table, but tactful enough, or experienced enough for most to not stare at her outright. After they'd all gotten dinner well underway, Scott made to introduce the newcomer.

"Alright guys, I'd like to introduce you to K. She's not sure if she's going to stay, but she will be here until Forge gets back and removes the inhibitor collar they snapped on before we got to her. You know the drill." All at once, they started going down the line, introducing themselves, and doing their best to sound both welcoming and encouraging. The chatter went on for a while, and she just stared off into the woods until the red eyed man that went by Remy looked across the table to her and whispered,

"Don't fret, chere - we all been caught up wit dem collas once or twice.' he winked, and K nodded, not really meeting his gaze. After a bit, she excused herself and headed up to go to bed early. She didn't feel much like socializing, and was simply not used to being around so many people. She was only two steps up when Jean and Kitty came up with two other gorgeous women.

"I thought we'd do a little shopping for you tonight? Some essentials?" Jean beamed at her. She just nodded, and replied with a soft 'alright.' She didn't feel like she belonged in the same zip code as these women, they looked like they'd walked off a fashion billboard, and it was just this morning she'd finally gotten the twigs and mud out of her hair.

She was suddenly feeling a bit woozy as they walked towards the garage. She stopped, and looked hard at the women before she called them to a stop.

"Ladies, I'm sorry, I just don't think I'm up to this right now." K said, shaking her head a little.

"I'd love something to wear other than these sweats, but to be honest. I hate shopping. Like, I'd rather go back into some lab's testing division than spend time at the mall." K told them.

"Well, we can work around that." Betsy chimed in. "Give us your sizes, and we'll just pick some things out for you." She had a wicked smile on her lips as she said it.

"You know ... I really just need a few jeans and some layers. If you guys would do that for me, I'd really appreciate it." K said, looking tired.

"You really want to trust us like that?" Rogue asked, sounding shocked.

"Better you than me, far as I'm concerned. Honestly. I don't care as long as I have some jeans and a few t-shirts and something for a layer or two. The rest doesn't matter." K said, feeling heavier as the conversation went on.

"Alright then. We'll go take care of it. I've got your sizes," Jean said in return. " And while we're gone, I'll have Bobby show you around."

She breathed a sigh of relief. No shopping today. It was a good thing too, she didn't think she'd be able to make it through a store with them. They looked like marathon shoppers. K followed them down to the living room where Bobby was watching the sports review with Remy and Scott.

"Bobby, we're going out for a few hours ... would you please show her around?" Jean asked.

"Sure, no problem." he said as he hopped up from the couch. He offered his arm and they started off his tour. K had started to feel very dizzy as they approached the last stop - the game room, and from two rooms down she could hear the pool game in progress. There was some serious trash talking going on from Remy and a gravely voice that she hadn't heard yet. As they entered the room, the game stopped and Remy shouted out a friendly greeting in French.

"Looks like things are pretty serious in here, ... ," Bobby said. "We can come back later."

"Oh, Come on, popsicle. Aren'tcha gonna introduce me to yer lady friend?" the gravely stranger growled out, his back still to them.

"Um, sure. K, this is Logan. he must have just gotten back. Logan, K was picked up a few days ago. She's actually trusting the girls to shop for her." he laughed. Logan turned around and looked her over from across the room, chewing on his cigar, hand on his hip.

"Don't hide yer face, girl. Look up." Logan half barked at her.

K thought to herself _Who the hell do you think you are? _But her mind and body weren't in synch and instead, she automatically did as he'd asked – straightening up more and tipping her chin up. When she did, his expression softened for a second, then went very hard as he narrowed his eyes at the collar on her neck.

"Why the hell hasn't Hank gotten that damn thing off her?" He asked, and edge to his voice that wasn't there before.

"New model." Remy answered."He don' have de key, and it shock 'er sometin' awful. Hank even tink it have some needles wit drugs in dem."

Logan walked over, and reached out to touch the collar, K pulled back a bit automatically and he stopped in his tracks.

"I won't hurt ya." he grumped, looking her in the eyes, narrowing his as he looked her over properly. He cocked his head a little, then his hand drifted from the collar to her jawline, his thumb brushing the hair out of her bruised face. Gently he tipped her chin upwards a little assessing her injuries while his eyebrows knitted together.

"Rifle butt?" he asked gently. K dipped her chin down a touch in response. He turned her head in his hands and pulled the hair off her neck before leaning in and taking a deep sniff.

"Logan, what the hell are you doing?" Bobby asked, looking at him strangely.

"Hank's right. There are drugs in there, and it's rigged too." then he looked at her. "You feelin' alright?"

"M'tired, I guess." She mumbled. He nodded then he tipped her face up to look at him again.

"Bobby, get Hank. Now. Girl, your eyes are glassy."Logan said, in a more stern tone. K just nodded. Then the room moved, without thinking she reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Easy there, darlin'." Logan said, catching her by her shoulders as she started to slide to the floor.

"Damnit. Forget it Bobby, I'm takin' her down myself Get the damn door." He barked. He scooped her up and started to run. K's head was swimming and her eyes wouldn't focus. Her head lolled on her shoulders, Nothing seemed to be working right for her.

"Stay with me now." Logan said low to her ... he sounded far off. Fuzzy. He said something else but it sounded jumbled. She couldn't make it out. Her eyes drifted shut and the shouting started.


	4. Surprises

Logan skipped the elevator opting for the stairs to rush her to the lab, At first K's head lolled, her arms limp. He was practically jumping down the stairwell, clutching her to him, Bobby following, relaying to Hank on a com link what was happening and what Logan had suspected, and Remy rushing ahead to be sure the doors were open once Logan reached the bottom. All at once she went rigid, and he almost dropped her. He readjusted his grip on her, finally opting to toss her over his shoulder when she went limp again, hoping she wouldn't tense up again. As he passed Remy, running now towards the lab, He felt a sharp pain in his back -

"What the hell?" he shouted as he went down, trying to keep her from hitting her head. Remy ran to him, swearing loudly in French as he tried to pull K from Logan. She was blind and swinging in a panic. Logan dodged in towards her, pinning her to the ground, grappling at her hands as Bobby ran for Hank. He got one arm pinned as she struggled and screamed, fighting like a little wild cat when she stabbed him in the side inadvertently as her arm flung around. He cried out then gritted his teeth, grasping her wrist before she could twist it or take another shot. Once he'd pinned her solidly she really started to struggle. Her head was whipping back and forth, she tried bucking him off of her, the whole time she was vacillating between screams and a very mumbled "no".

Logan was in shock. He looked to her pinned arms and took a deep breath to steady himself. This girl had claws. Remy let out a low whistle when he saw the damage she'd done to Logan. Though the bleeding had already stopped, She'd stuck him good. He had blood all down one leg of his jeans, and his shirt was soaked where she'd got him in the side. He slid himself down to sit more on her legs as she tried to pull a leg around his neck.

Hank came out of the lab in a rush.

"Oh, dear." Hank mumbled as he watched the woman's thrashing start to slow. Logan had just opened his mouth to ask Hank about the girl's claws when the collar started beeping.

"Shit." Logan muttered as Hank ran to her. He had a needle of something to counteract what he'd suspected as a common horse tranquilizer. He plunged the needle in her arm and Logan held her fast, unsure of what her reaction would be. Within a few minutes, K relaxed. Her breathing evened out and her heart sped back up to a normal pace. A few minutes after that, the beeping stopped.

Hank started her on an IV and pulled some blood from her other arm as Logan kept a hold on her.

"Can you get her to a gurney?" Hank asked. Logan just nodded in response, kneeling next to her and gently picking her up.

"Did you know about the claws, Blue?" Logan asked, a concerned look on his face.

"No. I suspected, but I didn't know for sure. Are you alright?" Hank asked, looking at the blood on his friend.

"I'm fine," Logan grumped. "Just be sure you watch out for her hands if you see her go stiff."

"I'm quite versed in that, my friend." Hank said seriously as Logan laid her down on a gurney.

Working quickly, Hank stripped her down and slipped her into a hospital gown while Logan stood nearby, ready to restrain her again if necessary. He found himself kind of wishing she'd fight while Hank redressed her, but she just laid there limply. As soon as she was dressed, Hank brought out a set of restraints. Logan felt a sudden protective urge as Hank slipped the woman's hands into the restraints and tightened them. He felt anger rising up when Hank repeated the process with her feet as well.

"You really gotta tie her feet down too, Hank?" Logan half growled out.

"I know you have an aversion to restraints, Logan, but after seeing her try to take your head off, yes, I believe it's a prudent move." Hank said to him over his half moon glasses as he shortened the restraints on her feet.

Logan's mouth tightened as he looked at the sleeping woman. This was the one that they'd pulled from a black ops group, eh? He didn't have to think too hard imagining what they'd wanted her for. He walked to a cabinet and pulled out a blanket, bringing it to her and covering her with it before flipping off the light over her head and pulling up a chair. He sat with her for the rest of the night. Just keeping watch.

"You can go anytime, Logan. I don't think she'll give me any trouble when she wakes." Hank told him. Logan just grunted in response and put his boots up on an adjacent chair. _Like hell._ He thought to himself. He didn't know where this woman came from, but he knew a kindred spirit when he saw one. He decided to ask Jean about K when she returned.

When Jean came in to the lab the next morning, Logan was sleeping in the chair next to K, his feet propped up, and his arms crossed over his chest. She tried to be as quiet as possible as she checked over K's vital signs. Hank had told her what had happened when she and the other women came back from their shopping trip, and the read out of K's blood work came back with evidence of a very heavy dose of Acepromazine, the horse tranquilizer that Hank had correctly guessed was being used. As she turned the page of the report, she was startled by Logan.

"Where did they find her, Jeannie?" he asked, tipping back his cowboy hat and readjusting his legs.

"Northern Wisconsin." She said, hand over her heart, trying to recover from the start he gave her. "She was being dragged into an unmarked van when Scott's team intervened."

"Ya know who's after her?" he asked, his eyes narrowed.

"We have a pretty good idea, but we're not certain." She said, readjusting K's IV feed.

"Should I guess?" he asked moving to stand.

"I don't think you have to, Logan. Your guess is as good as ours. Maybe better." Jean said looking serious.

He turned his attention to the woman in the bed. She seemed peaceful, if not for her fists clenched up. He sighed and turned back to Jean.

"They'll come looking for her." He started to say,"If they went so far as to drug her, they'll have GPS and be looking to recover." Jean's face went a bit pale before her eyes narrowed and she pursed her mouth.

"They better not. We'll be ready for them if they do." She said "What they've done to her already ….."

"What did they do?" Logan asked.

"From what I saw, many of the same experiments they did on you, only there was some abuses to her that I just couldn't watch. She'd blocked out a lot. A lot." she said sadly.

He watched the woman a moment longer before Jean put her hand on his shoulder.

"How did this happen?" she asked, looking at all the now dried blood on his clothes.

"She stabbed me." he said simply, still looking at the sleeping K. Jean took a step closer, finding the holes in his shirt where her claws had gone through.

"Lucky you can heal so quickly," she said, brows wrinkled as she assessed him. "If it was anyone else, they'd be dead. She got your kidneys, looks like maybe liver too?" she asked. He nodded his head.

"Nicked my diaphragm too. Was awful hard to breathe for a minute there, and fixing a kidney is a real pain." he said, never taking his eyes off the girl. "What gets me is that she was swingin' blind. Her eyes were closed, but either hit on someone that don't heal as fast as I do would have been real bad."

"You think she has training?" Jean asked him.

"Hope that's all it is. Damn good instincts anyhow." Logan said – shocking Jean. A high complement from the feisty Canadian.

"Go change. Wash up. Hank and I are here, we got this." She told him and he waited a moment before nodding his head and turning to leave. Why was it so hard for him to walk away. He wanted to go to her before he left …. and do what? He shook his head and went to his room to clean up. Best to forget it until K woke up when he could get a chance to really question her.

…...

Hank hung a sign in the door to the med lab that morning. "NO VISITORS" After seeing how violent K had reacted the night before, and not knowing how much of the drug remained in the inhibitor collar, he decided to just keep well wishers safe and far away.

Forge arrived late morning and Scott walked with him to the lab, filling him in on the happenings so far with the woman they'd pulled out of the north woods. Forge read over the reports from both the extraction and last night's mess when he froze in his tracks.

"What's this?" he asked, reading the part about the beeping "When did they start using drugs, and what was it beeping for?" He asked. Alarmed, he rushed to the lab the rest of the way, nearly running into a returning Logan as he got to the doors.

"You were involved last night." he said, grabbing Logan by the shoulders "Tell me everything." Logan shrugged him off but relayed the whole fiasco. As Logan told him what happened, Forge hurried to K's bed, and started examining the collar.

"You said it's rigged." he said looking at Logan."What do you smell?"he asked.

Logan let out a breath and looked Forge in the eyes. "C4." He said, feeling grim at the implications.

Forge froze, his fingers barely touching the collar.

"We have to get his off her NOW." he said. He tried to pull her forward to look at the back of it, but the restraints stopped him. "Logan, help me." Forge said, untying her.

Logan worked quickly, untying one of her arms, then sat on the bed next to her and wrapped his arms around her near her elbows in case she woke up swinging again, effectively pinning her arms. He leaned back, taking her with him as Forge lifted up her hair, looking at the collar closely.

"Alright, set her back down." he directed, and as soon as she was back in the bed properly, Forge quickly put the restraints back in place, Logan frowning at the action. Forge looked around the lab, and called for Hank, asking for all different forms of odd equipment. Hank led Forge off to an adjacent lab and he got to work. He was sure that in a day or so he'd have the means to safely remove the collar, but his suspicion was that if he could get it quicker, they'd be better off.

The next day, she groggily woke up.

She was not surprised to find herself back in the lab with the good doctor. In fact, she was more surprised that she woke up at all. Her body felt heavy and her head was loopy. Sleepily she blinked and tried to raise her hand to her eyes. The restraint hit her and she tensed for just a second, then gave up. She tried the other hand and dropped her head back into the pillows. She should have known that even these people couldn't trust her. She tried to reposition herself in the bed, but really couldn't get far with her feet tied. That really got her down. The last time she'd been tied up this tightly ….. oh God. Don't think about that.

"Ah, the patient awakes!" Hank said, smiling at her.

"How long have I been out this time?" she mumbled to him. Concerned he leaned towards her, shining a light in her eyes, tipping her head back to examine her thoroughly.

"You have been unconscious for approximately 36 hours." He replied as he continued his examination.

"_WHAT?_" she said, shocked, panic rising up in her, the fog not yet wanting to truly lift from her mind.

He looked at her seriously.

"Yes. You were brought into my lab 36 hours ago by Logan. He'd made an entirely correct assumption that the inhibitor you are wearing had delivered a near fatal dose of a horse tranquilizer. You reacted badly to it, stabbing him while he tried to get you here." she looked horrified as he continued. "Forge has assessed the collar and between he and Logan, they've deduced that we are facing an eminent problem. Forge plans to try to remove the collar this afternoon though."

"I stabbed him?" she asked, her face pained.

"Yes, but he's quite alright now. Had anyone else tried to carry you here, they would likely be sharing a bed next to you, or worse. Your aim was quite spectacular." he said. Her stomach felt like lead.

"Hank, are the restraints necessary?" she said, her voice sad.

"I'm afraid so. Until we know that the collar is out of the drug, and that it's not in your system, we cannot trust that you will not unknowingly react in such a manner again."

She dropped her head back into the pillows.

"Can you please tell him I'm sorry?" she asked, her eyes filling with tears.

"My dear, you can tell him yourself. He's agreed to assist if needed while Forge removes the collar. Both will be here within the hour." Hank told her, patting her shoulder. "You could have mentioned the claws though, K. You're not the only mutant we have around with them." he said kindly as he went back to his microscopes.

"Hank," she said sounding miserable."Can you please scratch my nose?" he laughed and returned, more than happy to help her as she sleepily snuggled back down into the pillow. May as well try to sleep before they tried to release her.

When she woke up again it was to the sound of men talking around her. Automatically, her heart began to race and she pulled at her restraints as panic hit her. Hank's hand touched her shoulder as he reminded her of where she was. She stopped pulling, but her heart still didn't want to slow. She knew she was in trouble. She looked around and was surprised at the tall native American with a metal arm. He smiled at her kindly, explaining the process they were going to use, a massive tray of gadgets nearby. She looked around the room, surprised to find that Hank was standing behind a plastic barrier, as was a woman doctor she hadn't met yet. When she looked closer at Forge, she realized he had on a bulletproof vest under his shirt. She looked to Logan, however and saw no such precautions. He was the only one that either wasn't concerned about an explosion, or didn't care. She was feeling less and less good about this.

The first thing Forge attempted seemed like it did nothing. He waved a metal device over the collar, and apparently the lights on it changed color, but then her jaw locked up and her back arched as the device electrocuted her. A few seconds later, she was lying limp in the bed, ears ringing and blood coming out her nose. The woman doctor rushed in, cleaning her up and checking her eyes and ears, taking note of her vitals. Forge and Logan looked grim as Forge made an adjustment to the device.

K still couldn't hear anything, but watched as Forge mouthed that they would try again now, if she was ready. She nodded her head numbly and this time after he tried the device, she felt as though she'd been kicked in the chest by a mule before all went black. She woke up gasping to beeping and Hank standing over her with paddles in his hands.

The men looked at each other a moment as she sputtered and coughed, gasping for air. Hank sat down heavily in the chair near her. K looked at him as she sighed and laid back into the bed.

"Can I please go outside now?"she said tiredly. Hank shook his head sadly.

"We can't take a chance at you getting hurt further or something going wrong with the inhibitor, my dear." he said, holding her hand.

"Come on, Hank. We all know it's not coming off. It'll kill me first. Let me die in the woods at least."she told him. "You have some nice trees here. It's not home, but it'll do in a pinch."

He looked worn as he nodded his head, releasing her from her restraints.

"Jean had brought down some clothes for you the morning after Logan brought you in." he said to her as the woman assisting him brought her a stack of clothes. She nodded and immediately started to change before they could close the curtain around her. Immediately, she needed a hand.

"Dr. um … lady doc?" K called out "I need a little help. I can't move very well."

"You can call me Celia." she said as she stepped behind the curtain, helping her balance to get dressed. Once she was clothed again, Celia pulled back the curtain as K's bare feet touched the ground.

When she tried to stand, she wobbled badly.

"I'm afraid you may still have the ace in your system, K. I'm not sure you should go." Hank said as she leveled her eyes at him. Logan couldn't take it. He stepped up to her and pulled her hair out of the way, leaning in and sniffing her neck again.

"She's clean Hank. Let her go." Logan said roughly.

"Logan, I'm not sure that's the best.."Hank started.

"Damn it, she wants out. She's goin' out. I'll take her if it makes ya feel better."he growled out. Hank considered it for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"That's actually a fine idea." he said as Logan offered K his arm to balance. She only made if a few steps before her knees buckled, and he amended himself, wrapping his arm around her waist. She put her hand on his and wrapped her arm across his shoulders as they made their way outside.

She waited until they were well out of the house, nearly to the woods when she had to clear her conscience.

"I'm sorry." she said to him, her voice small.

"Fer what?" he asked.

"I, uh. I hurt you the other day. I didn't mean to. I'm sorry." she mumbled.

"You didn't hurt me. I'm fine." he replied, tersely. She looked at his face as they walked. Then it hit her.

"You're the one," she started out "You're the other one that heals."

He cleared his throat, uncomfortably as they made it into the treeline.

"I'm still sorry. Even if you are all healed up, It hurt at the time." she said, looking back to where they were walking. Logan almost missed a step at her words. Everyone around him had always brushed over the fact that even though he healed, the pain was intense when the injury happened, and even after it was healed, he often was sore. This woman understood.

They continued to walk until they came to one of Logan's favorite clearings. It was off the beaten path, and as far as he knew, no one else at Xaviers knew where it was. He helped her to take a seat on a mossy log then sat a few paces away from her letting her breathe for a moment. They sat there silent and still until the little sounds of the forest came back. Only then did she say anything.

"Do you hear it humming?" she asked, turning to look at him. He just nodded. "It's going to blow, isn't it?" she said – more of a statement than a question. He just kicked a rock and looked at his feet before breathing out a quiet "Yeah, seems like it." while he leaned forward elbows on his knees.

"You don't have to stick around." She said. "It'll be fine. Save yourself the trouble of healing. I'll just stay right here. It's a pretty spot." He shook his head and moved to sit closer to her.

"Sorry, beautiful – you really shouldn't be out here alone until we can get it off." he said to her. She just laughed a little, shaking her head.

"You're not going to get it off without hurting someone else or taking my head with it." She turned to look at him squarely. "Really – go back to your family. I probably won't be too long." She smiled sadly at him and squeezed his thigh. "It's not worth the trouble." she said, watching the dust float in the afternoon sunbeams.

"Like hell it's not." he said, squatting down in front of the log, looking her in the eyes. Without any further warning, he grabbed her head and pulled her into a searing kiss. Her hands floated up to his shoulders, clenching the fabric as one of his hands slides down her back, holding her tightly to him while they stand. When he breaks the kiss, she's wide eyed and shocked, and both are out of breath. Cradling her head as they stand close his expression changes.

"Don't move, you hear me? Don't. Move." he said to her as she blinks away the fog in her head from his surprise kiss. Looking into his eyes, his face hardens and she hears a metallic sound from his free hand. She tries to turn her head a bit to see what it was, but he's got a solid hold on her skull. From the corner of her eye, she sees a single metallic claw protruding from his hand, moving towards her neck. Panic rises fast as she realizes he means to use it on her.

"Wait!" she cries out "What are you doing? I'm not ready yet … just give me a few more minutes …. not yet, please!" she's panicking as he moves his hand to her. She's frozen in fear, fully expecting him to simply put her out of her misery. Her hands are resting on his arm that holds her, not even thinking about the arm with the claw.

"Trust me." he says, stone cold serious and calm. "K. Look in my eyes and Don't. Move. I won't hurt you." A tear runs down her cheek as she takes a deep breath. She looks into his icy blues seeing only calm confidence and concentration then she closes her eyes as Logan slides the claw between her neck and the collar, cutting through it like butter then retracting it and using both hands to wrench it from her neck, flinging it away from them. It beeped twice as Logan tackled her to the ground, covering her with his body before the collar exploded.

Debris rained down on them – nothing major, bits of the collar, leaves. When K opened her eyes, Logan had his closed with a grimace on his face, his body tense.

"Logan – what happened, let me see." she said, wriggling beneath him, trying to get out from under him as he pushed her into the thick moss. Holding his breath, he readjusted his weight onto one arm and reached behind him, pulling out a chunk of the collar that had embedded itself into his lower back.

He leaned his head forward, resting it on her shoulder, clearly in pain as the blood slid down his side, dripping onto her.

"Give me a minute." he rasped out. "Just need a minute here." She relaxed, feeling awkward about where to place her hands while he healed up. After a few minutes he lifted his head, sighing tiredly, and looking at her face.

"Bruises are gone now." he said, one eyebrow raising.

"How's your back?" she asked, sliding her hands to his shoulders.

"I'll live." he said, watching her hands out of the corner of his eyes.

"So, that's twice you've saved my ass." she started "How do I thank you?" He smirked and just leaned forward for a kiss that turned heated quickly. By the time he broke the kiss, his hand had traveled up her shirt, and one of her legs had hitched over his hip, her arms were snugly around him. Both were breathing heavily. He smirked at her.

"How 'bout you take a ride with me tonight?" he said, sounding entirely too full of himself.

"I think I'm busy." K replied, straight faced. His smirk disappeared, replaced by a frown as he studied her. He started to pull his hand out of her shirt when she started to smile at him, wrapping her other leg around him.

"Or not." she says, slipping her hand into his hair and pulling him down to her for another kiss. She could feel him smiling as they kissed, and before they could continue she started to smile too. He stole a quick kiss before untangling himself and pulling her up to standing. He cradled her face in his hand, looking at her now that the bruising was all gone. The light was just right, catching the angle perfectly across her eyes, making her deep chocolate brown eyes glow nearly golden in the evening light. She felt a little self conscious as he studied her. Just when she was ready to pull away from him, he rested his hand on her hip and stepped into her, kissing her again.

"How about you meet me out front in an hour?" He said as they broke the kiss. She nodded her head as she licked her lips. Logan shoved his hands in his back pockets as he stepped backwards, looking around the clearing for pieces of the collar. He picked up the piece that was previously in his back and she joined him looking for other pieces. They found a good couple of larger pieces and left the little bits behind.

"Forge will want to see this." He explained, as they left the clearing. Before they made it up to the mansion, Jean and Kitty were rushing out to them, looking worried.

"We heard the explosion - is everyone alright?" Jean asked as they met her in the lawn _We waited a bit – it didn't seem like you needed to be disturbed_ she added to K, smiling at her. Kitty picked up the pieces and took them off to give to Forge, ready to jump in and help. Jean walked around K, looking her over, checking her for injury.

"You heal as quickly as Logan, don't you?" she asked as she saw the blood on Logan's shirt. "What happened here? Shrapnel?" she asked him. He just grunted in response. Jean turned her attention back to K, pulling her aside as Logan went into the house, looking at her neck as a flimsy excuse to talk to her with Logan away.

"I'm going to warn you about him," Jean began. "He's got some serious commitment issues. Have a little fun if that's what you're into, but don't expect much more than that. He just has no luck with women." She told her quickly and quietly. K was surprised at her warning.

"Thanks for the heads up," K replied. "but I'm not exactly the kind of girl guys are interested in for more than a good time. Not the 'bring her home to mom' type, if you know what I mean. The whole experimental lab rat thing is kind of a turn off if they find out about it." She said coldly before slipping past Jean and finding her way to her room. She looked at Logan's' door for a moment before opening her own and slipping in. He was kind to her, and a helluva kisser. A regular alpha male to boot. No, there was little chance that he'd want anything but a little fun from her before one of them left. She decided she didn't care if that's all it was. She was going to have a little fun before the running began again.


	5. Date Night

K walked down the front steps of the Xavier estate, pausing at the bottom step when she spotted Logan leaning on his Harley lighting a cigarette.

"You ready, sweetheart?" he asked, standing up as she approached. She looked at the motorcycle, circling it, crouching down and examining it in places.

"You're not afraid of bikes, are ya?" he asked her, smirk on his face.

"No, I've just never rode on the back of one." she replied, eying the seat.

"Well, I guess this'll be your first time out then." he said, anticipating having a little fun trying to scare her on the ride.

"Oh no, you misunderstand. I've never ridden on the _back. _I used to have a pan-head until …. well. I used to have a pan-head." she said looking more sad now then when she was ready to die in the woods a few hours earlier. Logan gently took her hand and pulled her closer to the bike.

"Well, come on. I suppose the back'll be better than no ride at all." he said as he swung his leg over. He started it up and nodded for her again to hop on. With a little frown, she swung her leg over and set her hands on his hips as he put it into gear. As they turned onto the road, he opened it up – a favorite trick of his to get a girl to hold on tighter. K just leaned into him. _Sonofabitch._ He thought. _Girl does know something about riding a scoot._ As they went further down the road, they both relaxed a bit. Although he was initially let down that his little trick didn't have her grabbing at him, he found it nice after a little bit to not have to tell her what to do or not do as they rode. She stayed centered with the bike as he leaned into the turns. Most of the girls he'd take out tried to lean with him, screwing up the fine handle he had on the scoot. She just rode. Didn't talk his ear off like damn near every woman he'd gone with either. When they reached the little bar he liked to go to he smiled to himself. Now was when his date always got upset. They'd take a look in the mirror and get mad that their hair was messed up, or their mascara had run. Only, K didn't even peek in the mirror, wasn't wearing any make up and damned if her hair wasn't sexy as hell wind whipped. All she did was straighten her shirt and lead the way into the bar as if she owned the place.

Once inside, he led her to his favorite booth in the back corner, where he could watch the entrance, the emergency exit, and the door to the back room and bathrooms. She reluctantly took the seat he'd offered her – apparently she'd rather keep an eye out too. When the waitress showed up, he ordered the usual. She asked K what she'd like, telling her the only mixed drinks she could make were daiquiris and sex on the beach. K wrinkled her nose and ordered a Budweiser in a bottle. Logan smiled to himself when the waitress returned with the two bottles of Bud. K looked at him strangely then tipped her bottle back, looking around the bar. Logan waited until they'd killed a few bottles before starting to question her.

"So where is it you used to call home?" He asked her as she sat sideways in the booth, back to the wall.

"North." She replied taking a swig. Logan smirked. She didn't want to give up information easy.

"Wanna get a little more specific, like maybe a state?" he teased, as she froze and looked at him, bottle halfway to her lips.

"Why do you want to know?" she asked, setting the bottle back down.

"Just tryin' to get to know ya. That's all." He said sitting back. She stared at him hard for a minute. Trying to assess his motives. She decided it didn't really matter. She'd probably be gone before too long anyhow. What would it hurt?

"Northern Michigan. West end of the UP." she said, waiting for a wisecrack that often came from people outside of her home state. Logan tried to hide a smile as he drained his beer.

"Go on – whatever smart ass thing you have to say – I've heard it before, but go ahead. Give me your best shot." She said, waiting to see how clever this guy really was.

"No, that's not it" he said, setting the bottle down and signaling the waitress for two more. "It's called the wolverine state, right?" he said a little smirk betraying his amusement. Her expression changed quickly. That was not at all the direction she thought it would go.

"Yeah. And?" she said, not catching the reference.

"So – that's my codename." he said, waiting for her reaction. A smile crept up on her face as she shook her head.

"Right. " She said, picking up a fresh bottle. She drained it in one and he studied her a moment.

"I'm not going to get you drunk, am I?" he asked her, not feeling a buzz at all himself.

"Not at this rate." she said,"But you're welcome to try." He finished his last and handed the waitress a 50 before standing and offering her his hand.

"C'mon. Let's get outta here." Logan said. Shrugging, she slipped out of the booth and took it. He led her out of the bar and back to the bike. She climbed on behind him, and they were back on the road. She took in the night wind, reveling in the scents in the air, not the least of which, the man in front of her. Her eyes were closed when his hands reached down and pulled hers around him tighter. She took the hint and scooted closer to him, wrapping her arms around him as far as she could reach. _Reaching the end._ She thought to herself, leaning her head on his shoulder as they flew down the road. When the bike hit gravel, she opened her eyes, expecting to see a motel parking lot. She was a little surprised to see it was a gravel road instead. Suddenly interested she watched where they were going as the road got rougher, and the forest began to encroach on the road. They passed a small parking/turnaround area and he downshifted as they slowed down going around the barricade and continuing on a dirt two track that was badly overgrown. He navigated the bike as if it were built for off road, weaving around the brush and small trees that had forced their way onto the old path. He continued until there was a very large tree that had fallen nearly directly across the road. He slowed the bike to a stop and turned it around so it was facing back the way they came. She started to look around the woods, wondering what he had planned so far out here. Just before he killed the headlights she closed her eyes tight, trying to force her eyes to adjust to the low light of the deep woods. She opened them as he got off the bike, setting the kickstand on a flat rock. When she looked a little closer, she saw that he actually had a very narrow path that he must have been using to get out here. She saw what looked almost like a game trail leading off into the woods, and she'd bet that was the way they were headed. He offered her a hand climbing down then didn't let it go, leading her down the overgrown game trail. They trekked for what she guessed as a good three miles before he slowed down and led her into a very quiet clearing that had a very old abandoned cabin covered with moss and vines. He nodded towards the cabin and opened the old door, creaking. She could hear the little residents of the cabin running for cover as they entered. He let go of her hand to stride across the room, kneeling to start a small fire in the ancient stone fireplace. Once it was going really well, she looked around. The outside was really rough, but the inside, was dry and did have a table and a couple chairs, a rug that was dusty but dry, and a bed that had clearly seen better days.

"Is this where you take all the girls to get in their pants?" She asked, eyebrow up, not sure what he was up to at this point.

"No. I don't take anyone here." he said, turning and rising up to look at her "But, I thought you might – appreciate it. I know no one at Xaviers really enjoys the woods much." He told her looking a little disappointed at her reaction.

She looked at him a minute and then turned her attention to the cabin. Really taking it in. It was a little creepy in the darkness and fire light, but looking to where the windows were, she realized it was probably quite pretty in daylight.

"I'm sorry. I just thought we were probably headed to a hotel or something." She said, looking at her feet."I wasn't expecting something this … thoughtful." He looked at her closely, understanding suddenly what she meant.

"I wasn't looking to get laid tonight." he said gruffly. "But if that's all you want, far be it from me to argue with ya." His irritation was growing as he thought about it. What did he do to make her think that was all he wanted from her? Hadn't he shown her respect …. for the most part? Damn it.

"No, I didn't think - "she began before he cut her off.

"Someone tell you that's all I care about?" he said stalking towards her, anger building.

"Well, yeah, actually." She admitted.

"Is that all you want outta me?" he asked, sounding a little taken back. She sighed, looking up to the ceiling for some divine intervention.

"No – UGH. I don't know." She cocked her hip and tapped her foot looking at him with her hands on her hips. She shook her head and turned towards the door, ready to start walking to who knows where.

"Forget it." she said, sounding resigned.

"Wait -" he said, grabbing her arm. "I brought you here to talk to you. I wanna get to know you." he told her, "I like you. You've got some spunk to ya. And, we've kinda got some similar pasts. You understand things … I don't talk about." He said softly.

"So what – you want a friend?" she asked, confused "Because, friends don't kiss friends like that." He smirked at the memory of the heated kiss earlier at Xavier's.

"No, I don't want a friend, and you're right. I don't kiss my friends like that." He said, pulling her closer by her belt loops.

"I'm – not so sure I can give you what you want." K told him, feeling queasy suddenly.

"Well, we can try it out, right? Don't gotta jump in and get married, eh?" Logan said, a little hope in his eyes.

"Eh?" She said, looking ready to fight. "NOW you make a joke about my home?" He just laughed.

"I got no room to joke about that. I'm from Alberta. In the mountains." He confessed. She looked at him doubtfully.

"You're a canuck?" she asked, looking down her nose at him.

"Yeah. Izzat a problem?" He asked, a growl starting up.

"May be. I've always had a 'No Canadians' policy. Too frickin' polite." She said, eying him suspiciously. He looked insulted then yanked her to him, pressing her body to him as he kissed her. She wriggled to slip from his grasp, but he pushed her against one of the mossy walls and ground his hips into her. When she started pushing on his shoulders he finally broke the kiss to look her in the eyes, not releasing her from the wall.

"Is that too polite? Because I can get rude, if that's what ya want." He growled at her. Breathless, she reached up to slap him. He just caught her hands then held them over her head as he assaulted her neck, kissing and licking his way to her collarbone. She was melting into his touch.

"STOP!" she yelled at him. And he let her go, wondering if he'd pushed her too far. "OK. I get it. The polite thing does not always apply!"

"I don't generally apologize either, so don't even think about throwin' that old rumor out there either." he said, practically reading her thought process. She looked at him a moment, still a bit shell shocked from his unexpected display.

"Sorry." she said quietly. "I just wasn't planning on getting involved with anyone."

"Why?" he asked her. "You gonna run? Because that's not a great idea right now."

"Yeah? What makes you so sure of that?" she shot at him, hands on her hips.

"They'll come looking for you. As sure as I'm breathin' they will come. They got money invested in you, and there's money to be made offa ya. Just a matter of time – and next time? It won't be just a small unit of black ops. They'll come down on you with everything they got. You wanna go back to a concrete cell? You miss twisted nut jobs cutting into you? I'm guessing they threatened you with some awful version of a rape if you didn't behave too, am I close?" he said gruffly, his voice rising as he continued on. "If the records Kitty hacked are complete, I know what the next steps are, sweetheart. You don't want to go there for it. You won't come out as yourself if you come out at all." He was breathing hard when he finally stopped. Eyes flashing in the fire light.

K was shocked. Tears were threatening to spill from her eyes as she stood there, frozen. It couldn't get worse than they'd already done, could it? She sunk to the floor of the cabin, finally realizing the gravity of the situation she was in. he was right. They would come.

"Why are they after me? I don't want this crap. What the hell did I ever do to anyone?" she asked to no one, beginning to hyper ventilate. She looked to Logan. "How much worse can it get?"

He took a deep breath, sitting down across from her before he popped his claws in his right hand and held them out for her to see

"This is the next step. They will drug you and then they'll try to cover your bones in metal – and if you live through it, which, most don't, they'll brainwash you, and beat the ever lovin' hell out of you just for fun. They'll see how far they can push you, then they'll turn you into their own private attack dog. You won't _have_ a mind of your own. You'll be a tool for them to use when they want and abuse when they're done." he said as the fire flickered off his claws. "And if my guess is right, if that all works out in their favor, they'll take from you _anything_ they think will make them more money. And you won't have a damn thing to say about it."

The cabin was silent but for the crackling fire as he retracted his claws and looked her in the eyes. She just stared at him for a while. She found no lie on his face. That's what they'd done to him. Whatever they had planned for her had to be just as bad or worse. A shiver ran down her spine, and he moved closer to her, draping his arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him.

"I'll protect you if you let me." Logan said, breaking the silence. She turned in his arms to look at him.

"Why would you take that risk for me?" K asked, looking a bit scared. He leaned down and kissed her softly.

"I told you, I like you. We might just make a good pair." He said.

"And you'd take that risk for what, a girlfriend?" she asked, disbelieving.

"Yeah, or more. No tellin' what will happen down the road." he said casually.

"I don't know if I can do that." she said, looking positively like a deer in headlights. He smiled as he leaned in closer.

"Not asking for it today, darlin." he said with a little smile. She laughed at herself a little and sat down on the bed. He joined her and they began to kiss. Slowly he leaned her back onto the bed until he was over her, and they entwined kissing, caressing and exploring each others bodies as the fire died out.


	6. A New Morning

The sound of birds chirping woke K up. The sun wasn't quite up yet, and the air was chilly outside of her little blanket cocoon. As she stretched out a large arm squeezed her, pulling her closer into a warm, hairy chest. As she readjusted her body, he snuggled into her, nuzzling his face into her hair, still half asleep. She looked around the cabin, The dust they'd disturbed the night before had all settled, and out the window she saw some of the first leaves of fall drifting down in the sunlight. This was her favorite time of year. She realized that most of her naked form that wasn't pressed against Logan was a little chilled, so she turned slowly to face him, waking him. Sleepy, he cracked an eye open and lifted his head, he then lifted his arm enough so that she could move into the position she wanted. He smiled when he realized she was snuggling in closer, wrapping her arm around his torso and resting her head on his arm. He threw his leg over hers, pulling her in as he embraced her again, kissing the top of her head. This had not gone at all like he'd planned – he wasn't complaining, but he did wonder where it left them. Surprising herself, she actually ended up dozing again for a little while before he decided to wake her up. He started out stroking her hair and caressing her back. He continued seeing how far he could get until she kissed his chest. When she joined in running her hands up and down his body it wasn't long and they'd once again gone too far. This time when they'd finished, however she got up and walked towards the door, stark naked.

"Where the hell are you goin?" He said, reaching for his jeans. She looked over her shoulder as she opened the door.

"Have to use the little girls room, and this place has no plumbing. I'll be right back." she said, stepping out into the woods. She didn't go far. She found a place that didn't have any poison ivy, and a little bit of privacy where she could relieve herself. When she was finished, she simply walked back to the cabin, looking for her clothes. Logan had nearly finished getting dressed, so he sat back down and just watched her as she gathered up her clothes and dressed.

"Enjoy the show?" K asked as she pulled her shirt over her head. Logan just smiled and finished buttoning his flannel shirt. Once they were both situated, they started the walk back to the Harley. He opened up one of the saddlebags and pulled out a rag, wiping down the seat from the morning dew that had settled on it. He slipped the key into the ignition and it roared to life on the first try. He let it idle a minute as she climbed on and got comfortable. Once they were settled, he started navigating back down his weaving trail to the gravel road. As they left the parking area, they spotted a doe that was crossing the road with her two fawns. He stopped and killed the engine a hundred yards back from them, watching the little ones take their time as they crossed. Once he knew they were well off the road, he fired it back up and puttered to the main road, turning in the wrong direction and opening it up, roaring down the road. She leaned a little closer to him as they flew down the road this time, resting her hands on his thighs. He was having a little trouble concentrating until she readjusted her hands, sliding them up his stomach, under his shirt. Her cold hands woke him up better than the hike out did, and helped him concentrate on what he was supposed to be doing. They rode out another 10 miles or so before he pulled into a little diner. She looked at him doubtfully as she got off the bike.

"Thought we could use a bite away from everyone at the house." he explained as he slipped his hand to the small of her back, guiding her to the door. The waitress told them to pick a spot, so he found another booth that was easy enough to watch the doors from. She brought them coffee and left the menu on the table as she went to take care of a couple of old timers at the counter. They ate their breakfast in silence. He slipped his hand over hers, stroking her hand with his thumb. They kept stealing glances at each other, smiling to themselves. One of the old timers at the counter was watching them over his coffee, a little smile on his wrinkled face. When Logan went to pay the tab, the waitress told him to forget it. The old man watching them had covered them. When Logan tried to give the man his money, he waved him off, telling him that watching them reminded him of the morning after he and his wife spent the night together for the first time before they'd gotten married. She'd passed away a few years back, and their quiet display reminded him of his youth. Logan thanked him and instead left a big tip for the waitress before he and K left the diner.

When they returned to the mansion, breakfast had cleared and all of the residents had already dispersed intent on enjoying their Saturday. They made their way past the scatterings of teenagers and were almost up the stairs when they heard footsteps behind them. K looked over her shoulder to see a brightly dressed Asian girl giving her a death stare. She turned back around as Logan put his hand around her waist, urging her forward.

"Somethin' on yer mind, Jubes?" Logan asked without turning around. Jubilee just huffed as they reached the top of the steps. "If you don't got something to say, then I ain't got times for games today, Jubilation." He said, finally turning to look at her.

"How come you didn't come in last night?" Jubilee asked, still giving K a glare.

"None of yer business, Jubes. You ain't my keeper." He replied, turning around and walking towards his room, pulling K with him. Jubilee shouted after him.

"You know, you were _supposed_ to meet me this morning. You said you were going to spend some time with me since I haven't seen you in nearly a month!" Jubilee said to him, frustrated. She didn't know this woman with him, but she sure didn't like her. Logan sighed, his shoulders falling as he turned back to Jubilee.

"Shit, Jubes. I got caught up with things, we had some talkin' to do and we're not done just yet. How bout I take you out tomorrow for breakfast?" Logan said to her, trying to smooth things over with the angry teen. She narrowed her eyes and looked at him, her chest out and her arms crossed, debating it.

"Make it lunch and you have a deal. I'm not waking up early tomorrow. Scott made me do drills with him when you didn't show." She told him, the anger starting to ebb.

"You got it kiddo." He said, ruffling her hair, then turning back to see K's door closing behind her. He knocked on her door, then let himself in before she could answer.

"Hey, what did you walk off for?" He asked her, watching her toss her shirt into the corner. She looked at him as she unbuttoned her jeans.

"What? You were having a conversation. I'm not going to interrupt you. Needed to hop in the shower though – dusty." She explained as she slid her panties off and turned towards the sound of running water. Logan watched her unhook her bra and step into the bathroom as he tossed his cowboy hat on her bed. He kicked off his boots as he stripped down and followed her in, closing the bathroom door behind him.

A few hours later, the two lovers were still in bed, enjoying each others company, ravaging each other as the mood hit them and slowly falling for each other, even if they didn't know it yet. It wasn't until Jean knocked on the door and told K in a strained voice that she had a danger room session with Scott the next morning that they even considered getting dressed.

"You two have effectively kicked off the rumor mill, so you know." she said. Logan and K looked at each other a moment before Logan got irritated and shouted at her.

"Any of it accurate?" He growled out. Jean finally started laughing as she answered him with a giggle telling him

"Well, not yet. We'll have to see if any of our young telepaths can pick up on what you two have been up to all day - broadcasting all day, that is. Especially at certain … moments." She said, a smile in her voice before she turned and walked away.

"I guess we're going to have to do something else for a while." K said tossing the blanket back and swinging her feet over the edge of the bed. Logan just reached up and pulled her back, covering her up again and doubling his efforts to make her squirm under him. They didn't get out of that room until nearly dinner time.

She walked into the kitchen – pizza boxes were piled up everywhere. People were buzzing in and out of the kitchen, students and teachers alike. They were getting ready for movies, and Jubilee was front and center sitting with Chloe and Zoe. The three of them were having a ball, laughing and giggling. She watched them for a moment enjoying the fact that they _could _act like normal kids until Jubilee looked up and spotted her. Jube's smile fell from her face and she just stared at K. Jubes' friends asked her the same question 3 times before she even started to hear what they were trying to say. She continued to watch K, getting very quiet when Logan came in a short time later and cozied up to her, kissing K behind the ear and pulling back grinning. Jubilee decided it was time to do some recon on the stranger that she thought Logan brought home.

"So, you have some special time with Scooter tomorrow, eh?" Logan asked, cracking open a can of beer and setting it in front of his new lover. She picked it up and stared at it a moment, nodding her head quietly before taking a slug of it.

"What is the danger room, and what the hell is it for? Sounds like a dance club." She said, picking up a slice of pizza from the nearest box. Logan smirked and began to tell her what she was in for in the morning, emphasizing that Scott never ran the same simulation twice, and that the purpose would be to see what she could do, and how far he could push her. She thought it sounded suspiciously like something the Weapons Plus people would do, and wondered how painful the experience would be.

Betsy 'overheard' her concern and pulled up a chair with them.

"It's not what you think, K." Betsy began "It's not a torture test, it's more of an exercise. You'll do fine." she told her before going to join Warren on a love seat he'd managed to kick a few lovestruck teens off of. Logan watched Betsy and Warren get cozy before he turned back to K, casually mentioning that his morning was free since Jubes preferred a lunch date with him. K smiled and nodded her head, thinking that having him around might be a good way to ease her nerves.

Not long into the movie, Logan lost interest in the film. He suggested they go outside and take a walk in the moonlight instead. She readily agreed as the kids burst out laughing at the scene on the screen.

They walked around the grounds, Logan pointing out some of the finer points as they went. When he pointed out the stables to her, she stopped.

"Are there horses in there?" she asked, looking towards the stable in the distance.

"Yeah, hard to have a stable with no horses." he replied. "You wanna take a look?" he offered. She smiled and put her arm back around his back as he led her to the stable. Once there, he flipped on the light inside the door, almost instantly a chorus of nickers started up all around them. Logan laughed a bit, and cracked open a door to his left, pulling out a couple of scoops of grain.

"Alright, ya spoiled nags. I got yer feed." he said to them as he made his way down the bank of stalls, dropping a few handfuls worth into each bin. K smiled as the sound of horses chewing filled the stable. Once he'd given them a taste of grain, he made the rounds tossing a little hay to each of them. She pulled up a bale of hay and sat down in the middle of the aisle, closing her eyes and listening to them eat. The smells and sounds in the barn made her smile.

"Horse lover?" he asked sitting next to her. She just smiled a little more with her eyes closed, taking it in.

"Yeah," she said finally. "My family had horses years ago. I remember riding them around through the woods and plowed fields when I was little. I haven't ridden in longer than I can remember." She told him. He smiled at her little confession. She was a country girl at heart. Loved animals, quiet, and the forest. Her list of positives just kept growing.

"What kind of kid were you?" he asked, purely out of curiosity. She laughed.

"Oh, I don't know. I was littler than most kids. Not the youngest, but I was the smallest. I used to hide from the big kids until I got beat up really badly by one of them. Something in my head snapped and I chased that kid down and pounded the hell out of him. Every time I saw him that summer I glared at him until he left." She laughed a little at the memory. Logan smiled.

"He probably had a crush on you. You likely broke his young heart." he laughed. She turned to him with a smirk.

"Well, he had it coming. He hit me first. Hopefully he learned a lesson." K said, laughing. He turned to her and kissed the smile off her face. Before long, things progressed in the barn to the point that Logan carried her up to the hay loft and laid his shirt down on the hay before stripping her down again and having his way with her.

Meanwhile, Jubilee had started asking the kids around her about the new woman. She learned her name from Paige Guthrie, who'd overheard some of the teachers discussing her when she was in Dr. McCoy's lab. Once her name was out, Chloe and Zoe piped up.

"That's not what happened at all," Chloe said "We were with her when Mr. Summers came and got us."

"Yeah,"Zoe confirmed."She saved our butts a lot before those soldiers caught up to us. She's kinda scary when she gets wound up."

"What do you mean?" Jubilee asked as the group left the movie and found a quiet spot to talk.

"She's like a wild woman." Chloe said, Zoe nodding her head in agreement. "I don't know how she does it. One minute she's just fine and then the next she's all … rawr."

"Oh, and she heals really fast." Zoe added. Jubilee's mouth was hanging open.

"Yeah – do you remember when that one biker guy _shot her_?" Chloe said, getting excited.

"Yeah, that was scary." Zoe replied "But she like just stood up real slow then took the gun from him and pistol whipped him." Zoe scrunched up her nose. "That was the first time I figured out what pistol whipping was. It was crazy." Jubilee was flabbergasted. So that's why Wolvie was interested in this woman. They were the same. She wondered if K had claws, and found herself asking the question before she could censor herself.

"Mmm Hmm," Chloe said "How did you know? They're like crazy freaky, but not like you know, freaky like Professor Logan's. That's just scary." Jubilee turned to Chloe.

"You mean hers are bone?" She asked.

"Yeah, why?" Zoe asked. Jubilee suddenly had to talk to Wolvie. Did he know all this? Were those guys that were chasing K after Logan too? She got up suddenly and started looking for Wolvie. When she didn't see him around the crowd, she ran to his room – empty. Then, she started looking outside, freezing in her tracks when she heard his moans from the hay loft. He didn't sound like he was in pain.

"Oh, eeew." she said out loud before turning around and rushing back to the house. She thought she'd scrubbed the mental image of them out of her brain when they walked into the door, hay stuck to their clothes and poking out of her hair here and there, smiling and walking hand in hand.

"Gag." Jubilee mumbled. Logan's eyes whipped to her, and she tried to act innocent. She followed them at a distance, and waited a few minutes before knocking on his door after he kissed K good night and went to his room.

"Come in, Jubes." he said, tiredly. He'd already changed his jeans for sweats and was standing barefooted and bare chested pulling hay out of his hair in the mirror when she walked in.

"So," Jubes said, totally unable to make small talk "tell me about this new … person." He turned to her, appraising her before answering her.

"She's not goin' anywhere Jubes." Logan said.

"I know, but – what about the people that are after her?" Jubes asked, looking concerned.

"You thinking of her or me?" he asked striking to the heart of it.

"Well, you." she replied quietly.

"Jubes, they're not going to come after me. They've known where I am for years. I've been written off a long time ago. They want her, but they can't have her. I won't let them." He said as he sat down next to her. "She's got a morning session with Scott. I'm going to watch. Why don't you drag your butt out of bed and come down too? You should meet her." he told her, giving her a quick hug. Jubilee thought about it a second and nodded her head.

"Yeah. I should meet her before I decide I hate her, I suppose." she mumbled. Logan chose to ignore the comment and instead wished her a good night and saw her out. When he was sure she was gone, he slipped across the hall to K's room, trying to coax her to his bed. It didn't take much coaxing as she found herself draped over his shoulder as he ran her back to his room, kicking the door closed behind him.


	7. Evaluation Day

Jubilee was rudely awakened by the sound of her roommate Paige snoring. Bleary eyed, she looked at her alarm clock. _NO. Too early!_ She thought as the numbers flashed back 6:05am. She tried to hide under her pillow, and when that didn't work, she threw it at her roommate, who stopped for a moment before launching back into a very unladylike like sound. She groaned, then sat up realizing that she just wasn't going to be able to sleep in this morning. Wolvie had invited her to check out the new recruit that he happened to be dating. Thinking about K made Jubilee cranky. She didn't like sharing what little time she had with Wolvie – especially this little woman that had so much in common with him. She realized however that if Wolvie really did end up falling for her that pissing her off could make the little time she had with him disappear all together. She decided to try to be a little nicer, you know – keep your enemies close and all that. But that wasn't exactly right. She wasn't an enemy. In fact, if what the new girls told her was even half true, she was probably a good person. She didn't have to help Chloe and Zoe, but she did without knowing them. Shoot. That sounds a lot like what Wolvie would do. She sighed, and stood up. May as well get dressed. Maybe she could go catch Wolvie and grab a bite with him early after all. She laced her shoes and slipped out of her shared room with Paige and tiptoed down to the teacher's wing to see if Wolvie was up yet. He rarely, if ever locked the door, and he would probably be either waking up or already up by now, so she didn't knock before letting herself in. For the first time in her memory, he didn't wake up when she opened the door. She stood there for a moment, partly in shock, partly seething and partly disgusted. He was asleep with her head on his chest. She was draped halfway across him, and both of them were clearly passed out from staying up way too late. His arm was around her, possessively, and he looked more peaceful than she'd ever really seen him. Her face burning in embarrassment and anger she backed out of his room, only waking K when the latch on his door clicked.

K's eyes popped open and she looked around the room as best she could without lifting her head. She lifted her head a few inches trying to see the door, looking for some sign of who had closed it. She was too close to Logan's chest to smell much more than him and the lingering smell of sex in the air. When she lifted her head a bit more, Logan's arm automatically gave her a squeeze before he began to stretch out.

"What's wrong, darlin? Up a little early aren't ya?" He said, pulling her up so he could kiss her. She felt a little stiff in his arms, and his eyes opened fully now, wondering what had her on edge.

"Someone closed the door." K said, looking at it now, as if the perpetrator would suddenly appear. Logan sat up and let his arm fall from her before getting up, and walking toward the door, sniffing as he went. Ten paces or so before he got there, he groaned.

"Jubilee." he said as he turned back to K. "How did she get in here without waking me up?" he wondered aloud. K just smirked at him.

"Maybe you were a little worn out, needed some beauty sleep. Did you do anything strenuous last night?" She asked, doing her best to look completely innocent while his sheets had dropped down and pooled across her thighs, exposing her bare flesh in the morning sun. He grinned at her in reply and he stalked back to the bed, ready for a morning round as he grabbed her knee and yanked her towards him. He covered her body with his before kissing her into the pillows and giving her a little slap on the leg she was pulling over his hip.

"Can't do it this mornin'. You have a session in a little bit, and I gotta go find Jubes now. She's probably pissed off." he told her as he pinned her hands near her head. She looked at his arms, then up to his face.

"Why are you holding me down then? Afraid I'll do something you might like?" She smiled up to him.

He smirked in return.

"Yeah. 'Cuz you're a trouble maker." he told her, kissing her again as he ground into her, making her squeak a little. She wriggled under him in response and soon he broke the kiss, growling. "Troublemaker." he accused, releasing her wrists as she smiled up at him. He took a minute or two then reluctantly got up, eying her and shaking his head at her as he did so. Sitting up, she looked around the clothes strewn on the floor. She couldn't find her pajamas. Reflexively, she wrapped his sheet around her and looked around again, kneeling on his bed. She was trying to clutch the sheet across her breasts and hold her hair out of her face at once. Logan watched her as she looked harder. She didn't realize the image she'd just made for him, the early morning sun making her skin glow and reflecting the coppery highlights in her hair.

"I can't find my clothes." She said as she sat back on her heels, looking a little distressed.

"You're not going to either, sweetheart." Logan told her as he slipped his jeans on and sat back on the bed, running his hand down her naked back. Her face wrinkled into a frown, and her hair whipped back and forth as she took another look around.

"What did you do?" she said, eying him suspiciously while pulling the sheet tighter and higher up her chest. He smiled then snatched the sheet from her, sliding his hands across her body.

"You don't remember?" he asked, kissing her shoulder from behind her, smiling against her skin and snaking his hand around her waist. She shook her head as she leaned into him. He stopped his carnal assault and grinned.

"Good." he smiled. "Then I did something right last night." he said as she turned to him blushing.

"Yes, you certainly did." she said giving him a quick kiss then nearly leaping out of bed, abandoning the sheet and headed for the door. When her hand touched the knob he sprung up, pushing the door shut loudly again.

"You can't go out there naked." he told her, blocking the door as she stood there, perplexed.

"You trashed my clothes. I don't have any here, and it's the teacher's wing." She listed off. "Is it really a big deal if a teacher sees me walking across the hallway?" she asked and he wrinkled his face in disapproval.

"To me it is. Here," he said, handing her one of his flannel shirts. "At least put this on until you get across the hall." She took the shirt and slipped it on, ready to go without buttoning it up.

"WAIT." he said, grabbing her arm and pulling her to him. He gave her a glare as he began to button up the shirt for her. She smiled as he did it.

"Little possessive there, big guy?" she teased, knowing full well that was entirely the problem. She was amused that he didn't seem to want to flat out admit it.

He growled and gave her a kiss before she slipped across the hall, slipping on an old red flannel before going after Jubilee.

He didn't have to go too far. She was in the kitchen, scarfing down a big bowl of that sugary crap she liked so much and glowering at the cabinetry.

"Mornin' Jubes." he said, starting up a pot of coffee. She glared at his back while he set up the coffee maker. As he turned around, she rolled her eyes and focused on her cereal.

"Up awful early for someone plannin' on sleepin' in." He said, sitting across from her.

"Yeah," she grumped between chews."Well, YOUR roommate doesn't snore." She snapped glaring at him fully now. He was taken back. She was jealous.

"Jubilation." he said quietly "Is there a reason you're acting jealous? Because I gotta tell ya, kiddo – if what I think is your reason is what's got you all pissy – well, it better not be." he looked her in the eyes, looking dead serious. She looked at him a moment in disbelief.

"Oh, eeew. NO."She said, rolling her eyes and pushing her cereal away. "As if! You're like, totally old, and ugh. NO." He didn't understand her.

"Then what the hell is your problem?" he barked, losing his patience. She groaned, and rested her head on her fist looking at him, jiggling her foot trying to find a way to tell him without sounding like a kid.

"I just -" she started then gave up. Logan waited patiently for her to continue. "I miss you." she whispered, half hoping he wouldn't hear. The tension melted from his shoulders and he circled the table, pulling up a chair next to her and wrapping his arms around her.

"I'm sorry, darlin'. I know it's been hard on you, but I don't really plan on havin' to be gone so much." He told her. "I'll make it up to you somehow, but try to get to know K before you write her off. You might just like her." He said, kissing the top of her head. Jubilee sighed and wrapped her arms around his waist, hugging him back as K padded silently into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee. She smiled at Jubilee and took her mug outside, trying to give her some privacy with Logan. Suddenly, Jubes felt guilty at how she'd judged her. She hadn't tried to monopolize him purposely. In fact, she realized that when she was shouting at Logan at the top of the stairs, K had tactfully disappeared, not wanting to even witness their raised conversation. She moved to break the hug and kissed Logan on the cheek.

"I've been a jerk, haven't I?" she asked him. The corner of his mouth pulled up and he shook his head no. "Sorry, Wolvie." she said, looking out the window as Scott jogged up to the patio and took a seat next to K, smiling.

"I'll see you in a little bit. Do you think she'd like to join us for lunch?" she asked him.

"Why don't you ask her?" He replied. "You comin' down to watch her evaluation?"

"Evaluation? You mean, they haven't done that yet?" She asked, surprised. She'd been here a week anyhow. Scott was usually really pushy about getting new people evaluated immediately.

"Long story." he replied with a grim tone.

"So, you're movin' kinda fast then aren't ya, big kahuna?" she teased, nudging him in the ribs. He glared at her and acted like he was going to bite her as she jumped up, laughing.

"OK, OK, I got it. Mind my own beeswax. Whatever. I'll see you in a few." she said, backing out of the kitchen as Logan stood and walked over to finally snag a cup of coffee.

He leaned against the counter, a little irritation rising as he watched Scott and K joke easily on the patio. What the hell was he up to, anyhow? His eyes narrowed as he heard her easy laughter through the door, Scott leaning closer to her, smiling as she laughed. She stood up, saying something to him that got a chuckle and she headed back into the kitchen, smiling at Logan as she entered the door. She walked up and gave him a quick kiss before turning to rinse out her cup. As she did so, Logan stepped up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist and nibbling on her neck. She smiled wider, leaning back into him as his hand moved north. She turned in his arms and put her hands on the sides of his face, kissing him deeply as Scott came in. Scott's smile fell and he cleared his throat. The couple totally ignored him save for Logan deepening the kiss further as her hand slid into his soft black hair. Determined to ignore them, Scott quietly poured himself a cup of coffee and headed out of the kitchen as the couple continued their now public display. When the kiss finally broke, they leaned their foreheads together, half panting as a small applause broke out from Bobby, Remy, Jean and Jubilee. Logan moved his head to one side, looking over her shoulder then gave her a quick nip on the neck, making her jump sideways a bit. She playfully swatted at him and started to head towards the elevator. Jean followed her, a smile on her face.

"SO," Jean started to say "I guess I was wrong." she said, bumping K with her shoulder. "Looks like you two are getting along _really_ well." K gave her a sidelong glance and shrugged, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"Come on, can't you give me any details?" Jean asked. K raised an eyebrow and started to chuckle.

"All I can tell you is that he moves fast, and knows what the hell he's doing. Outside of that – nope."

When the elevator doors opened, Jean pulled her towards the locker rooms.

"If you're going into your evaluation, you're going to need a uniform. Something that's easy to move in. I think I have just the right one for you." Jean told her as they opened a door in the back of the women's locker room. Jean pulled out a black bodysuit that had a few seams that accentuated the figure.

"I was going to use this one, but the sleeves and legs came out too short. I'll bet it will fit you just about right." She told her handing her the garment. K started to strip on the spot. Jean was taken off guard by her lack of modesty.

"I can leave." She said, face turning red.

"Why?" K asked her as she started to slip into the uniform "I don't have anything special." She zipped the front up and Jean helped her to find a pair of boots to round out the uniform. Within a few minutes Jean was sending her into the danger room, wishing her luck.

She was spooked as she walked into the big metal room. She jumped when Scott spoke over the intercom, and she whipped her head up, a little panic hitting her when she saw the observation room above. The door behind her closed and she suddenly felt very trapped.

Hank was watching the readouts on the screen. He wrinkled his brow when he saw her pulse and respiration jump. He looked down at her, expecting the equipment to be malfunctioning but saw she was indeed clearly breathing heavy and fast. She was in a half crouch, and looked like she was ready to spring at anything.

"Why is she so tense? What's going on down there with her – you didn't start the simulation did you?" Hank asked Scott. Scott was disturbed watching her too.

"No, I just closed the door." Scott said, double checking the controls. "Jean, what's happening with her?" he asked his wife as she walked in the booth. She walked up towards the glass and did a quick scan.

"Change the scenery now, Scott. She's panicking. It's the room and the booth. You have her spooked." she said, concerned about the woman's mental state. Logan watched her move. She looked like a tightly coiled spring ready to snap. His stomach fell a bit as he remembered a similar room that they'd put him in years ago in the Weapons Plus project.

"Oh no." Logan said quietly as he made the connection. "Scott, get her out of there now." he said running out of the booth. Scott started pushing buttons to open the doors when Logan punched in his override code and slipped into the room with her, closing it behind him. She whipped her head at him, clear panic on her face, chest heaving and eyes wild. He approached her slowly hands open and fingers spread, trying to calm her down.

"Logan what the hell are you doing?" Scott's voice echoed down.

"Scenery, Scott - Change it QUICK – woods, forest, jungle – something green FAST." Logan barked to Scott and Scott punched in the first Forest simulation that popped up on the screen. Logan started to talk to her, slowly breaking through to her. He never broke eye contact as he spoke. Her shoulders and arms started to relax incrementally when Logan heard a familiar growl behind him. He instinctively tensed as Creed's voice began to chuckle from the lush green forest around them. He never expected what happened next.

The growl that came from K was truly frightening. It was so low, it was nearly inaudible. All those in the control booth felt a chill up their spine as they felt the growl before the sound reached them. Her eyes had narrowed and Logan realized a split second after she rushed him that she wasn't going for him. She actually stepped on his back as he ducked, launching herself at the simulated Sabretooth, clearly going to eviscerate him. Logan rolled after she stepped on him, watching the carnage from the ground. Creed was as viscous as he ever was, but she was fast and ruthless. He got in some nasty hits on her, slicing her from knee to armpit, but she acted as though she never felt it. The battle waged both ways, each gaining ground and those in the control booth were still in shock, horrified at the amount of bloodshed and violence happening that for once _wasn't_ at Wolverine's hands. Creed pinned her against the wall by her throat, her feet not touching the ground. To Logan's shock, as her face was turning purple and her arms were beginning to fail her she worked her feet up to his throat and pushed him off her, getting her throat half cut up in the process. She was now bleeding profusely as Creed came up to her again. She wavered as he lunged, moving at the last possible moment and landing on his back, one set of claws buried in his shoulder. As he howled in rage, she took her hand off of her neck wound and while bleeding all over them both, she used both sets of her claws to decapitate him. She kicked out, booting Creed's decapitated head away from him as she fell on top of his massive body, finally passing out from blood loss as Logan reached her, wrapping his hands around her throat, stopping her from bleeding out entirely while Hank ran to her aide.

The booth was silent as Hank and Logan rushed around her, trying to help her. Hank was trying to start an IV for an infusion as Logan used his boot to move part of her shredded bloodied uniform away from the wound on her side, waiting to see it pull together. Slowly, it started to close up. He gingerly moved his hand a little from her throat, a large clot coming with his fingers. He carefully ran his finger along her neck, looking for the wound Creed's claws had inflicted, but found none. The gash up her side was healing slowly, so he directed Hank's attention to it, looking for some foreign object that may have held up her progress. He pulled out a piece of the robot that had broken off between her ribs and a long strip of material that had been embedded when the simulation slashed her. When he saw the color beginning to return to her, he looked up at the booth, cold anger on his face.

"What the fuck happened, Summers? Why did you have it on my simulation? You tryin ta kill her?" he barked up.

"I'm not sure – I just tried to load a forest," Scott said, typing madly trying to figure out how it had gone so terribly wrong. Jubilee was the one that figured it out.

"It was your code, Wolvie." Jubilee said into the mic.

"What are you talkin' about?" he snarled up to the little Asian girl.

"Your code – when you punched it into the panel it over rode what Scott had up here, he just didn't see it because he was watching her go all feral on you." She explained. Logan seemed to weigh out her explanation. He sat back on his heels watching her stitch herself up as Hank cleaned up the blood on her face. Scott switched off the microphone.

"Well, we don't need an evaluation. She didn't take him down. She killed him." he said to Jean and Jubilee. "Logan hasn't taken it that far even." Jean studied his pale face.

"True, but Logan and Creed are somewhat matched. She's probably what? 110? 120 tops? She's tiny compared to him." Jean reasoned as they watched Logan pick up her limp body. Jubilee left the control room, following Logan as he carried K to the elevator. He looked at her as she stood next to them, eying the blood still dripping off of K's uniform.

"You may not want to ride with us, Jubes. Don't know what's going to happen when she wakes up. Don't want you in the cross hairs." He told her, reasonably.

"I'll just stand behind you." she replied, stepping in with them. When he stepped out of the elevator, and started towards the stairs Jubilee trotted after him, two steps behind him up the stairs, and to Logan's shock, she opened the door to his room for him. He nodded in thanks as he passed her taking her straight to the bathroom, and starting to strip the uniform off of her. Jubilee stayed back a bit, not wanting to be too close if she panicked. He got her boots off and was pulling her arm out of the uniform when she woke up with a start. He threw his hands out and she looked around a minute, staring at him before relaxing and pulling her arm from the sleeve.

"You alright now?" he asked. She shook her head, rubbing her neck where she'd been slashed.

"I don't like Scott's idea of an evaluation. You could have said we'll find the biggest asshole you can think of and throw him at you." She said, wobbling as she stood. He smiled sadly.

"Yeah, that was a simulation for me."Logan admitted. She froze.

"You mean, Jean didn't just pull him from my head?" confusion on her face. He was a little shocked.

"No. He's a chronic pain in my ass."Logan said as she seemed to lose some of her color.

"Please tell me that son of a motherless whore isn't a regular problem around here." She said. Looking ill.

"I wish I could." he replied watching her as she looked for something to grab onto.

"Come on, hop in the shower, clean up a bit and then you can tell me about it." He told her, guiding her into his shower. She nodded and started to wash up. Logan left her to it and went back to talk to Jubilee.

"Jubes - "he started to say before she cut across him.

"She knows him." she said dazed. "She knows him, hates him, and can kick his ass." she looked up at Logan smiling. "I think I like her." Logan smirked.

"Give us a little time and we'll go grab a bite somewhere." He told her.

"Can I stay, please, I want to hear what she has to say about him." Jubes asked. Logan weighed it out, and decided to leave it to K.


	8. Old Times

Damn there was a lot of blood that went down the drain. K thought it might not ever stop. Wrapped in a towel she finally emerged from the bathroom and was greeted by both Logan and his little friend, Jubilee.

Still wet, she chose not to sit on the bed, going instead for the only open seat, next to Jubilee. The girl didn't appear to like her much, having made a point to glare at her every time she'd laid eyes on K. However, she was watching her wide eyed now, and making sure that she saw there was room to share the love seat. Well, what the hell. Why not. She made a beeline for the girl and very ungracefully plopped herself down next to her, whispering out a 'hey' as she sat down. She leaned her head back, trying to stretch a little and just rest a moment when Jubilee asked if K would tell her about Sabretooth.

K lifted her head looking at the girl next to her and nodded.

"What do you want to know?" K asked her.

"Well, what's your beef with him?" Jubilee asked. K took a deep breath and let it out trying to decide the best way to describe it.

"Well," she started "He's a psychopath that likes to rape, mutilate, torture and murder women – not necessarily in that order." She sighed again, recrossing her legs.

"Did he … hurt you?" Jubilee asked timidly. She didn't want to ask if Sabretooth had forced himself on her, though she really wanted to know.

"Many times in many ways. Broken more bones than I can count. Bruises, cuts, all kinds of things. Usually with me restrained at some point." she said, her eyes on the carpet.

"They let him torture you?" Logan asked, not entirely surprised that they still employed the bastard after all these years. K looked up at him before carefully choosing her words. She didn't want to imply more than what had happened.

"He's exceptionally good at torture and mind games. Who else would do such a thorough job?" She said earnestly. Although it irritated him, she had a damn good point.

"What did he do?" he asked her, anxiety on his face. She smiled sadly, as she shifted uncomfortably under his stare.

"Not as much as he wanted to. He made all kinds of promises though that I know he means to at least try to make good on one day." She said. Jubilee turned in her seat, watching K stare off, not really seeing anything. Without thinking about it, she leaned over suddenly and gave her a hug.

"We won't let that loser touch you again. Don't worry." K was shocked for a moment, and awkwardly wrapped her arm around the girl, looking at Logan who looked nearly as surprised as K was.

"I'm not that concerned. He doesn't exactly hate me, he just … he wants me to _let_ him rape me, and well, I'm not exactly on board for that. You guys know how to deal with him, right?" K said, looking up at Logan. Jubilee stiffened and pulled back from her hug, looking to Logan, who had sat back and covered his face with his hands, sighing.

"Yeah, we know how to handle him." Logan said looking at the calendar. "he's bound to show up sooner than later."

"What, you got a standing appointment?" K joked looking at him in disbelief.

"Something like that. Does he ever talk about other people he wants to kill?" Logan asked.

"No names. He was a real mess last time I saw him. Really beat the hell out of me for something someone else did to him." She said. Logan watched her a moment.

"What do you mean? He takes it out on you if he finds you?" He asked, she nodded. "What did he do? Did he gut ya that last time? Maybe break an arm before takin' yer throat out?" Logan asked. K got a chill and looked at him wide eyed. She just nodded. Words could not find their way out of her mouth.

Logan sighed, and leaned forward, putting his hand on her knee.

"I'm real sorry, sweetheart." he said as her heart fell "Me and that sonofabitch go back a long way. That's what I did to him last time we tangled. I'm the one he lovingly calls the Runt." Her face went pale.

"Oh no. No no no no." She said, staring at him wide eyed. "Please tell me you're joking." she said. Logan just shook his head no.

"I know what he did to the women in your past. He told me about it in detail. He _showed me._ The first time he saw my claws …" her voice choked up and she couldn't talk anymore. He pulled her into a hug as she tried to pull herself together.

"He said he had plans for me if he ever found out that I knew you." she whispered. "I don't want to think about what he'll do if he finds out what we've done together." Logan's heart sunk. He kissed her head and just held her tightly. She took a deep breath and clutched to him. "I don't want to let you go yet." she murmured into his shoulder.

"Then don't." he said quietly. She looked up at him sadly. There was no way it could be that easy. She let out a tearful chuckle.

"Don't think it's that simple." she said. "That simulation was based on how he goes after you. He's never attacked me like that. It's always an ambush if I'm not restrained. It's always sneaky. He doesn't give me a chance to face him evenly, and once he gets a hold of me, I don't have a chance. He's just so goddamned BIG." Logan smiled at her. She looked back in question, sure he'd lost it.

"You know what that means, right?" he said mischief in his eyes. "He knows if it was a fair fight, you'd win, and he doesn't want to take the chance that a little thing like you would take him down." She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"How flattering, and how full of shit." She said finally. He nodded.

"Like I said, I've known him for damn near as long as I can remember. He never gives a fair fight if he knows its a fight he can't win." Logan said, leaning in for a kiss. Just before his lips touched hers Jubilee cleared her throat.

"Hate to interrupt, but, why don't you have the Prof or Jean or someone scan your noggin and program in the 'tooth's actions against you into the 'puter. Might be able to find a way to fight him." Jubilee said, arms folded. Logan's eyes popped up as he thought it over. He locked eyes with K and kissed her deeply. Jubilee sighed as Logan broke the kiss and leaned into K.

"She's got a point." he whispered."I can help you find a way to fight him, AND I'll stay close. If he sees us together, he'll be so pissed off at me, you won't even ping on his radar."

"You don't know that." she said, assessing him. He just nodded slowly.

"Believe me. Creed never misses an opportunity to get my blood on his claws." Logan said quietly.

"I've never hidden behind anyone before. It's not right." she said. He shook his head.

"You've never had someone to help you. Let me help." Logan said earnestly.

She thought about it a moment or two before agreeing.

"Charles. Let's ask Charles." K said as Logan finally released his grip. K breaking away to get dressed. He nodded then smiled at Jubilee.

"Good thinkin' kid. I guess spendin' some time with Scooter isn't the worst thing you've been doing lately." Logan said, giving Jubilee a squeeze.

They went to talk to Charles, who was having tea with Jean at the time, laughing easily together. Charles' expression went somber when Logan led K into the room.

"You've recovered from your poorly executed evaluation this morning. Remarkable. I think you may heal faster than Logan." He said as she took a seat near Jean. Her gaze was down.

"I'm truly sorry that it went so badly this morning," Jean said, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Scott won't ask you to go back in anytime soon. He feels terrible."

"That's great, Jeannie. But that's not why we're here." Logan cut in. "Turns out Creed has it out for her. We need one or both of ya to help program something for her."

"Why? You said it yourself, the simulation is as close to Sabretooth that you can get." Jean said, her brow wrinkled.

"Yeah, it is – when he goes after me. He treats her different. We need it adjusted for his approach to her." Logan explained quickly. Charles looked at her thoughtfully.

"Can you show me what he's done?"Charles said, "I don't understand how he could have an entirely different approach to one person." K nodded.

"You know that's not entirely true, Charles. He's actually gotten much more nasty than the program does when it's just Logan." Jean said thoughtfully.

"You have my full permission to see anything and everything." K said, "You too, Jean." she added. Charles noticed her hands shaking. He knew she couldn't be lying.

"Please, take my hand, and Jean's. Logan, stay close. She may want you when we've finished." Charles said as K and Jean followed his lead.

"I want in. Let me see too." Logan said looking grim.

K took a deep breath and nodded her consent. Jean squeezed her hand, a small smile on her face.

"It's OK. That's what we're here for." Jean said quietly.

"Just don't be surprised at what you find, and don't stop until you've seen it all. I don't want to have to do this twice." K warned. Jean and Charles looked at each other grimly before Jean nodded.

"Just relax and clear your mind, K. We will do our best, but if I think it's too much for you, we will stop."Charles said. "Please, think of the first time you encountered Sabretooth." She closed her eyes and did her best to relax. Within moments, she found herself in a large flower filled field with Jean, Logan and Charles, who was standing next to her. She looked around and Jean nodded to her, telling her to lead them to where they needed to go.

She was working in a bar, nothing special, just pouring drinks for the regulars, trying to keep it calm and friendly when the a massive blonde man walked in and sauntered up to the bar.

"What'll it be?" she asked him. He eyed her up and down and with an ill fitting grin asked her when she got off work.

"Sorry, mister, not on the menu. Can I get you something to drink?" She told him, setting down the rag in her hand. He tutted and leaned towards her across the bar.

"Just bring me somethin' cold and American – and keep 'em comin." he growled out. She nodded and turned, pulling a frozen mug from the freezer behind the bar before pouring him up something on tap. She set it down in front of him, asking if he wanted to start a tab. He nodded, leering at her as she started up a new sheet for him. She made it down the bar to take care of a regular when she saw the blonde had already drained his mug. Before he could raise his hand, she snatched up his mug, refilling it. He watched her closely. He kept up this pace for nearly an hour before she finally asked if he was alright. Without a pause, he tapped his mug.

"I'm fine, just keep pace, girl." He growled out. Doubtful, she continued to pour him beer as the regulars disappeared one by one. After the last one left, he snatched her hand as she made to take his glass. She froze and looked up at him, a smirk on his face. She pulled on her hand a little and he slid his hand up to her arm, tightening his grip until the bones in her arm snapped. She reached up to try to pry his fingers off, wincing in pain as he continued to squeeze her arm. When her good hand touched his, he grabbed that wrist and pulled her over the bar.

"Looks like you're free to go now, pretty girl." He growled, pulling her with him. He released the broken arm and she held it to her chest, trying to pull away from him until he wheeled around and slapped her. She hit the ground, and she grabbed her broken arm and pulled, resetting the bones and gritting her teeth as she did so. He stopped in his tracks, watching her.

"What did ya do that for, girl? You ain't gonna live long enough for it to heal." he said looming over her. Then he froze, mouth open as he watched the dark purple bruises on her arm disappear. Slowly his eyes slid up to meet hers. A huge grin that didn't match his eyes slid up on his face. He grabbed her leg, pulling her closer and threw his weight on her thigh, snapping her femur. She screamed out in agony, the world swirling around her as he pulled her leg, resetting that bone too. He shred her jeans waiting to see the bruise disappear on that break as well. He started to chuckle. He pulled his arm back, but before he could strike her again, she punched him in the throat, collapsing his wind pipe. He fell nearly on top of her. She wriggled her leg out from under him as he gasped. The bruising around his throat was vanishing fast, her eyes went wide as she realized how this guy drank as much as he did and was still upright. She freed herself and made it out the door before he got his feet under him. He was on her trail in a heartbeat. She ran into the nearby forest, her legs pumping as hard as she could make them move. Panic struck her when she wasn't 50 yards into the woods as she heard him burst through the underbrush, roaring on her tail. He was closing the distance, she could hear him breathing practically in her ear. He made a swipe at her, ripping out a chunk of her hair and scalp, stumbling as he did so. She used it as a chance to really pour on more speed. She was getting ready to make a leap for the river when her foot caught on a tree root, and she fell face first into the dirt. He was on her before she could take a breath. Pulling her hands over her head and flipping her over to face him, he straddled her, looking her over.

"You gonna play nice with me now?" he laughed in her face. She spit in his. He growled and released one of her hands long enough to punch her, smashing her nose and cheekbones.

"Well, then frail, I have just the place for you." He laughed, tossing her over his shoulder. "And you can bet you'll be wishin' you'd taken me up on my offer by the time they get started on you." She was losing consciousness when he tossed her in the back of his hummer. He crawled in over her, pressing her into the back seat. Her head was swimming as he reached into the cargo area, digging around before finally grabbing her hands and cuffing her. Her face was nearly healed and she started to sit up when Creed locked eyes with her and told her to stay down, punching her in the throat this time. He'd hit her with force enough that it actually fractured her neck. She couldn't move from the neck down and was gasping helplessly choking on her own blood before Creed realized what the problem was. He pushed her off the seats, face down on the floorboards of the back seat telling her not to bleed on the leather as he slammed the door shut. She stayed down, trying to make a plan when after several turns and many miles, the hummer stopped. She heard his door open and slam, then the door near her feet open. He grabbed her ankle and pulled her out. She'd healed by this time and turned to run for it when she saw the dozen or so soldiers with rifles pointed at her. Creed chuckled, grabbing her by the hair and pulling her with him.

"Got one for Department K." He said to the sentry at the entrance to what looked like a concrete bunker. The sentry nervously made a quick call and the doors opened within a few seconds. He pulled her along the hallways – all of them looking sterile and dead. He shoved her into an elevator and stepped in behind her, punching a button before wrapping his hand around her throat. When the door opened, he dragged her with his nails puncturing her skin until he got to a steel door with a high tech access panel. He scanned his palm and retina before the door opened to a vast laboratory, all brushed steel and white ceramic. A bald man with a hook for a hand in a lab coat turned to look at him, smiling when he saw the bloodied woman.

"What have you brought me today, Creed?" he asked, looking the woman up and down.

"She's a fast healer. Thought you might find a use for her." Creed replied.

"Perhaps. Would you mind giving me a demonstration?" The man asked.

"It would be my pleasure." Creed grinned as two more men in lab coats came and collected her from him, stripping off her clothes to her protests, then hosing her off to remove the dried blood that had accumulated on her body.

"We need a clean slate so we know what we have on our hands." The bald man explained to Creed when he'd started to protest. When she was washed up, soaking wet and freezing, Creed was given free rein to hurt her. He repeated the beating he gave her at the bar, expanding on it where he felt it needed expanding, K fighting back when she could, and landing some hits that were fairly impressive for a girl with no formal training. It continued until Creed started to get carried away, his claws sinking deeply into her throat.

"STOP. That's enough. You've done well, Creed." the man said, watching as even now the punctures in her heavily bleeding throat closed up. "Name your price." Creed smiled.

"Three times what the last one was, and I want to help with your testing on this one, professor." he said, smiling. The professor's eyes narrowed, thinking it over.

"Done." he said moments later. "We will start tomorrow. Be ready at 9." He told him turning towards the woman. "Guards, put her in cell 78." Two guards came forward, one holding her hands while the other removed the cuffs. They led her to the cell, shoving her in roughly before slamming the door shut behind her.


	9. Memories Revisited

Surrounded in blackness and cold, the woman woke up. She couldn't tell if it was night or day or how long she'd been in the concrete room. Bright light filled the room, and she covered her eyes with her hands, wincing in pain. Hands were on her, holding her arms tightly as the guards dragged her from her cell. She struggled until one of them brought down his rifle butt on the back of her head, knocking her out. When she regained consciousness, she was strapped to a cold stainless steel table, unable to do more than wiggle. What she presumed were doctors were all around, covered head to toe in white, masks and goggles over their faces. One of them alerted the others to her awakening then crudely put a piece of duct tape over her mouth just before they began cutting into her. She screamed until she passed out, waking to pulling as they explored her innards. The pain was so white hot, she couldn't focus on anything else, and as soon as one exploration was over and she had healed a little, they'd start another one.

They gave her no recovery time other than the time it took for her skin to seal itself. She was shaking uncontrollably by the time they'd decided it was time to stop. The same guards dragged her bloodied body back to her cell, dropping her in the center of the floor and slamming it shut behind them. She didn't move until the door opened again.

When they came for her the second time, she tried to keep them from grabbing her, fighting until one raised his rifle and shot her in the heart twice. She fell to the ground, hand over her wound as they rushed in and dragged her out again. This time, she was awake as they took her to the lab. She felt sick when the bullets pushed themselves out of her body, hitting the concrete with a clunk. They strapped her onto the same table, and she began shaking automatically, her body responding to the anticipated mutilation that was bound to follow.

Instead, two white clad figures approached her, injecting her with some odd looking liquid, then simply stepping back and watching her. It burned like fire in her veins. Her head swam, eyes unfocused and soon her heart began to race, throat swelling, panting she thought she was surely going to die when it simply began to ebb. When the color at the injection site and her pulse returned to normal, they repeated the process with a different injection. She went through all forms of near deaths, and many that just made her ill for a bit until they decided that they'd gone through all the injections they'd wanted to do, ending with testing how much of one particular drug they needed to give her to render her unconscious for a time. Once that was determined, notes were taken, blood was drawn and she was returned to her cell, where she found a meager meal waiting for her. After the day of being poisoned, she was reluctant to touch it. She carefully smelled it, deciding that at least some of it was somewhat safe, she wolfed down what she could. Not long afterward, she found herself falling asleep. It was hard on her body, all this healing with no rest. The longer she went without sleep, the harder it was to heal properly.

They repeated the process many times, never giving her a chance to become totally whole until they tossed her into a cell. The day that haunted her the most was one where they took her into a room with an incredibly heavy door, dressed in some very strange looking hazmat suits. They threw her in the room and rushed to close the two foot thick door, leaving her in a plain looking room with a small metallic looking object in the center of it. She had no idea what it was, but she knew it couldn't be good. The longer she stayed in the room, the sicker she got. She'd never felt like this before. Her stomach twisted on her, she was dizzy to the point of being unable to stand. When she began to vomit 15 minutes after entering the room, and after becoming hopelessly ill after being in the room for less than an hour, the signal was given to pull her out. The heavy door opened and a man covered in lead that could only be Creed walked in quickly, grabbing her by the foot and dragging her out. He picked her up as soon as she was out of the room.

"Glad you weren't stupid enough to get too close to that damn thing, frail. Even we have to have a limit." He said to her quietly as he carried her down the corridor, for once gently setting her down in a shower, where she was scrubbed down by several men wearing decontamination suits. Her skin began to peel off as they scrubbed her. Her hair fell out and the vomiting continued, though now she was vomiting black, tarry looking blood. She was losing blood from both ends as her illness showed it's full force. She was in shock. She couldn't think and all over her skin were purplish looking burns where it wasn't bright red. She was seizing every few minutes. In short she was dying. NO one came too close to her. And then, slowly she wasn't. Weakly she lifted her head and watched the skin that had fallen from her legs begin to reappear. Everything hurt. She still couldn't think. Some time later, the men who had scrubbed her returned, repeating the job, she couldn't really move much to help them. Her body felt as though it was made of lead, and everything ached sorely. She picked up her head, looking at one of them a moment. His eyes were wide as he stared back at her, still scrubbing her down.

Creed came to visit her when they finally put her back into her cell.

"Would have been better if you just died, girl." he said, "They're happy with you, so it's not going to get any better now. Bet ya wished you'd taken my offer." She heard his laughter and his footsteps retreat down the hall as she lay still on the floor.

The next day they began by throwing her into a large metal room with an observation room attached above. As she turned around she spotted Creed, who lunged for her, and began beating on her. He retreated when told, and attacked when allowed, brutally tearing into her. It wasn't long though before she began to fight back. She was darted then and woke up tied to another metal table, a device attached to her head that covered her eyes and ears. Something in the device drilled itself into her skull and began flashing images before her eyes. When they threw her back at Creed, she knew a little more how to fight, and kept pace better.

It was here that her memory went fuzzy. Hazy. Almost as if you were walking through a thick fog. Her next real memory was one of rage. She was naked still, covered in blood and savagely tearing into Creed. He'd already been knocked out and she was straddling his chest, pounding into his face with a rock. Breathless, she stood up and staggered backwards as a dart hit her in the back. She spun, looking for her attacker and losing her footing falling on her ass and slipping backwards as the drugs kicked in.

She woke from that one with Creed on top of her, making fuzzy sounding promises as he forced her legs apart. He'd found his way between them, her screaming in rage and fear as he undid his fly when he was hit with half a dozen darts. He collapsed on top of her, growling as she tried to push him off of her, the guards finally doing it for her, rifles aimed at her the whole time. As they dragged him away from her, she too was hit with a dart. This time when she woke up she found herself clothed. They'd deemed him too tempted when he fought with her, and sought to fix the problem by covering her up. It didn't fix it. It only gave him something to enjoy as he shredded her meager clothing.

They tapped into her brain, reprogramming it with fighting styles they'd recovered from previous victims to their experimentations. When they were done, they thought they had a real promising specimen, until they added in some of the programming previously used on their one biggest successes and biggest failure. They tried to add in some of the fighting style taken from Weapon X. It proved to be a perfect storm. This last time that they put her in with Creed, wanting them to fight, it all went wrong.

Creed lunged at her, and she stood her ground until the last moment, when suddenly, unexpectedly, she somehow sliced him from neck to navel, gutting him and leaving him bleeding in a pile. They went in to subdue her and were shocked to find that when they got too close, this tiny woman had three claws sprouting from the backs of her hands, ready to slash them.

"Get her down! NOW!" the professor shouted from the control booth as she went to slashing and gutting half of the guards in front of her, not stopping until she had two darts in her neck.

As she was fading out, his voice echoed the room.

"Finally, we have a second chance, gentlemen. Begin preparations for a bonding. You have 48 hours."

When she woke up in her cell, Creed was in it with her, glaring at her. He was on her in a moment.

"You rotten little whore – what is he to you?" he shouted, holding her head in his hand. She shook her head, confused as he grabbed her hands and held them behind her back, pressing her against the wall with his body.

"That little runt," he mumbled to himself, "wait til he sees what I do to you" he snarled at her. She couldn't hold back anymore.

"Who the fuck are you talking about?" She shouted at him and he froze, eying her.

"Don't try to bullshit me girl. You tell me who he is to you or I'll let them do what they have planned."

"I have no idea what the fuck you're talking about!" she replied.

"You know, I have a thing about killing his women. It makes me happy." She was staring at him, wide eyed, completely clueless as to what the hell he was talking about.

"This,"he said jamming his claws into her stomach then tearing out her throat. "Is how I killed his precious fox after havin' a little fun with her." She blacked out as she bled out, waking up to him smiling at her. "But that won't work on you, will it?" he said.

He continued to 'show' her how so many women had died at his hand. He finally left, telling her if he found out she knew him, he would make her beg for him to kill her.

He left the door to her cell open as he went. She took advantage as soon as she was upright, carefully scenting her way out, avoiding soldiers as she went.

She was well away from the complex when the alarm rose. She chose to run, not stopping until she was clothed and very far away, cutting off her hair and bleaching it blonde.

...

With that image, the mental bond between K, Logan, and the telepaths broke. The X-men before her looked shocked. Even Logan was taken back.

"He gave you to them." Logan whispered, looking at her. "Knowing what they'd do, he _gave you to them._" he said, anger and disgust apparent in his voice. She nodded.

"I think we have enough to program a scenario. It's clear he likes to see you in pain, but that's not unusual. He's got to have a really dark fantasy in mind." Jean analyzed.

"Yeah, that doesn't make it sound any better. Kinda creeps me out more, actually." K replied. Jean nodded her head grimly. She thanked them, though Charles hadn't said a word since the connection had broken. She and Logan left Charles' office, Logan taking her hand in his as they started down the hallway.

"Go, take Jubilee out. She needs some time with you - she's been waiting for you." K told Logan as the door closed behind them, giving his hand a squeeze.

"You need food too, darlin'. Can't heal right without it." He replied, wrapping his arm around her as they walked. She shook her head,

"I can handle that here. She needs your time. I'm not going anywhere." She promised, kissing his cheek. They turned the corner into the kitchen, finding Jubilee there with a large pizza in front of her.

"You guys took too long, so I ordered out. Want some?" Jubilee asked, holding out a slice to K.

"Thanks," K replied, "But I think I'll just head upstairs. You two need time and I've already gotten in the middle of it." She told her, turning to go up to bed.

"NO!" Jubilee shouted, then quickly lowering her tone continued. "I want to see you too. Chloe and Zoe said you were really nice."

"Ugh." K said, pulling a face "Those two are going to have such a bad impact on my reputation."

"I know how that goes, isn't that right, ya little pain?" Logan laughed, ruffling Jube's hair. Jubes just stuck her tongue out at him. "Besides, you need to eat something."

Slowly and tiredly, K pulled up a chair next to Jubilee, and just tried to zone out as Jubilee talked Logan's ear off, K nodding or shaking her head as needed when Jubilee would ask her a question. After she'd eaten a little bit, her eyes started to drift shut, though fight it she did. Logan watched her starting to lose her battle and as her head slowly sunk to the table, he nudged Jubilee nodding his head to the woman falling asleep next to her.

"God help me for ever saying this out loud, but Wolvie, you have GOT to get that woman in bed." Jubilee said, shaking her head. Logan winked at Jubilee as he made to stand up.

"Took the words right outta my mouth, Jubes." he teased, waggling his eyebrows and crossing behind Jubilee to gently pull K's chair out. Her eyes popped open a moment but she simply cooperated as she focused on Logan's face momentarily, leaning into him as he picked her up, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning into his shoulder while he carried her, bridal style up the stairs and to his bed. He stripped off her shoes and jeans before covering her up and leaning in to kiss her.

"You, my dear, are a God among men." she mumbled as his lips touched hers.

"Don't forget it. Rest up, I'll be back in a few hours." he told her as she snuggled in and passed out.


	10. History comes alive

Logan closed the door quietly behind him, making a beeline for Charles' office. His silence earlier had left Logan uneasy after the exploration of K's old memories. Charles' voice beckoned him to enter as he reached the door. He was sitting behind his desk, looking out the window.

"What troubles you, Logan?" Charles asked as Logan walked up and leaned on the bookshelf near his desk.

"What do you think, Chuck? You didn't say a word afterward. What's your take?" Logan said, watching him closely. Charles let out a heavy sigh and turned to face his old friend.

"All they did to her, they accelerated from the pace they used with you, didn't they?" he asked, his voice sounding tired. Logan nodded.

"They only did one or two tests at a time then threw me back in to heal. Took them months to do to me what they did to her in what? A few weeks? Why'd they push her so hard?" Logan asked, anger radiating off of him. "And the radiation poisoning? That's new." he said, disgusted.

"Yes, they were testing her for a purpose, I'm sure of it. But I don't understand the push. What had they planned for her?" Charles mused, fingers tented as he thought.

"We gotta shut 'em down, Charlie. Just be a matter of time before Creed shows up, and when he does, he'll tip them off in a heartbeat." Logan said, determination in his voice. Charles nodded in agreement.

"It's a risk, but one I'm afraid we may have to take. K will be their primary target, but I doubt that they would pass up the chance to retrieve you if the opportunity was ripe, not to mention every other resident here." Charles said, watching Logan's reaction.

"I'll talk to Cap. See if we can get them to get a little intel for us. May even want to lend a hand if he meets her." Logan said, pulling out a cell phone. Charles nodded, waiting to hear the verdict. When the call ended Logan's eyes locked with Charles.

"Cap'll be here in a couple days. He's starting the intel search. With luck, we may get the Avengers on our side here. That program was supposed to be shut down years ago." Logan said.

"You know it wasn't, Logan." Charles said quietly. "Losing the investment they had in you set them back significantly, but you were a technical success to them. The failure was in their inability to keep you under their thumb." Logan sighed, looking down. He knew Charles was right, even if he didn't want to think about it that way. Logan turned to walk out.

Charles was concerned for all of their safety, but he couldn't help but wonder about Creed. Something the others had glossed over was his gentle touch when she was severely injured. Was it the manner of how she'd gotten so badly ill that had him so uncharacteristically careful with her, or was it something more? He tried to mull over Creeds contradictions, but soon found himself having to abandon the possible meanings. He was sure Logan either hadn't picked up on it, or was so outraged at how they'd treated her, he had canceled it out in his mind seeing how vicious he'd gotten when Creed had suspected a link to Logan. He had to admit, whatever kindness she'd received before, it was going to be all bets off when Creed discovered her current relationship with Logan.

…...

Logan slipped into his room quietly, not wanting to disturb the woman he'd been growing so fond of that was sleeping in his bed. He stripped down to his boxers and slid under the covers, her eyes fluttering open as his weight moved the mattress. She slid her hand across his tightly muscled stomach, pulling herself to him and kissing him gently over his heart. He rolled her over onto her back and began showering her with tiny kisses, working his way from her jawline to her ear, then down her neck, across her collarbone and trailing his way to over her heart, caressing her breasts. She started to pull him up to where she could see him when he slipped a knee between her legs. She hitched her free leg over his hip, kissing him as he rose to meet her. She was wiggling out of her shirt when there was a knock at the door. Logan groaned, dropping his head between her breasts.

"This better be good." He said, growling as he turned his head, nipping at her breast.

"Sorry, Logan but we have an issue with Jubilee. She's gone." Scott said, his voice echoing slightly in the hallway.

"Damnit." he cursed, looking up at K's face, finding concern there at the news of Jubilee's disappearance. "Jeannie have any luck on her?" he asked as he disentangled himself from her surprisingly long legs.

"Yeah, she's off the grounds, probably 50 miles to the north of here." Scott replied through the door.

Logan was mumbling to himself as he got dressed, checking the calendar again and swearing.

"What is the deal with that damn calendar?" K finally asked when Logan checked it for the second time as he pulled his uniform on, zipping it up. She got up and slipped a pair of sweats on, following him.

"My damn birthday's next week." he said, pulling on his boots. She was utterly confused now.

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" she asked, following him out the door.

"Creed's a week early." Logan replied, then turned to her "Stay here. He's usin' her as bait. I don't want you getting in the middle right now." he jogged down the hall with Scott. She waited a half second before taking off behind them.

"I'm coming with." K told them, breaking off with Jean as they rushed to the underground levels. Jean looked at her, unsure.

"Is that a good idea?" Jean asked handing her a uniform. K nodded grimly.

"Logan said Jubilee was bait. Bait for what? To bring Logan there, or to lure him away? Besides, I will die killing that sonofabitch if that's what it takes. If he's violated her …." K drifted off, her jaw setting as her nostrils flared. Jean understood and the two women grimly made their way to the blackbird where the rest of the team had already gathered. Logan stood at the door, trying to block her entry.

"No. I don't want you anywhere near him, K." he said, his tone unyielding and final. He moved his arm, letting Jean onto the jet. K narrowed her eyes at him, trying to push his arm out of her way. She couldn't move him. He blocked the way further, shaking his head as he looked in her eyes.

"Out of my way, Logan." K warned, her tone just as final as his. He shook his head.

"I'm tryin' to protect you." he said, a tiny bit of pleading in his voice.

"I'm getting on this plane." she said, her voice getting an edge to it. "Don't make me hurt you." He smirked.

"You can't hurt me, darlin'." he said, not intending his tone to be so condescending as he reached up and slid his hand into her hair, caressing her cheek with his thumb. She blushed deeply, anger rising in her cheeks as her hands tightened into fists. She could feel her temper boiling over.

"Last chance, _lover._" she half whispered, half snarled at him as the engines fired up.

"I'm sorry, really I am." he said, making to take a step back.

"Let her on, Logan." Jean said "She can help." Logan looked over his shoulder a moment, then brushed Jean's logic off. When he turned back to K, her expression had changed from livid to very calm, apologetic even as she put her hands on his shoulder and made to lean in for a kiss, only to knee him in the groin. He doubled over and she pushed him onto his back, stepping over him and closing the door behind the both of them before leaning over him looking him in the face, anger back on her features.

"I'm sorry, really I am. But it looks like I'm going." She said to him, kissing him quickly and taking a seat near Jean. A few minutes later, Logan stiffly took the seat across the aisle from her, glowering at her until she finally turned to face him.

"You didn't have to do that." he growled out. She reached over, resting her hand on his knee.

"I really _am_ sorry about that. But you wouldn't listen." She said, letting out a big breath. "You said that Jubilee was bait. Bait for what? To lure you there to fight, or to lure you away?" she asked him. His anger melted away as he thought it over.

"I don't know." he admitted. She shrugged, her hands open.

"That's why I'm coming. If he's scouted, he knows I'm here, and not to take away from your feud, but he broke his pattern, right? How often does that happen?" She reasoned. He shook his head.

"You're not ready to fight him." he said, looking a little worried. She smiled and stole a kiss.

"I'm not going to. I'm just going to be your bait." she said with a smile. Logan immediately started to protest, but Jean cut across him.

"She has a point. I'll stay with her. Scan for him, and hit him with a psy-blast if he gets too close." Jean said, the three of them hashing out a plan.

"What about the rest of us?" Scott said from the pilot's seat. "What do we do?" Logan looked shocked. Was Scooter really handing over the reins to him on this one?

"Spread out in pairs. Keep your eyes open, and put him down if you get the chance." Logan said. Scott nodded in agreement, only then throwing in his two cents.

"Storm, you're with Gambit. Rogue and Iceman, Colossus and Kitty, Beast you stick to the jet, and I'll go with Wolverine. That alright with you, Logan?" Scott rattled off. Logan looked at K a moment, weighing it out. Before grunting out his approval. He covered her hand with his, then drew her hand up to his mouth, kissing the palm. Jean looked at her, nodding for her to go to him. He pulled her into his lap, nuzzling into her neck.

"Don't let him touch you." Logan said quietly. She nodded her head.

"You getting nervous, big guy? Your heart's beating real fast." she said, looking him in the eye. She could smell the anxiety on him. He pulled her face to his and kissed her passionately, looking her in the eye afterward.

"I love you, woman. Don't go and die on me now." he said very quietly. Her heart fell a little. Why did he have to tell her now? When it all could go wrong so easily.

"I love you too, Logan." she replied just as quietly. She kissed him in return with all the passion she had for him, looking into his eyes when the kiss ended. "In case this all goes south, Happy Birthday." He looked sick for a moment as he slid her off his lap into the seat next to him.

"I'll expect a present from you in the mornin'" he tried to tease, the catch in his voice giving away his mounting tension. Their hands entwined until the plane landed a short time later.

The team fanned out in pairs, Logan and K going in opposite directions, both testing the wind, K hoping not to find him, Logan wanting desperately to be the one who did. It was Jean and K however, who found Jubilee. She was tied up, hands over her head, dangling from a tree by her wrists. Her head hung over her chest limply, blood all over her tattered clothing, bruises blooming across her delicate features. Jean let the others know silently that Jubilee had been found and where to find her. K was on edge, scanning the clearing, frustrated that the wind had died down around them making sniffing Creed out impossible. A few minutes later as Jean pulled Jubilee out of the tree, assessing her injuries, Storm and Gambit appeared. Gambit stood near K, scanning the area, looking out for any sign of the monster. Jean sent out a little query, looking for anyone outside of the group. Suddenly her eyes popped open.

"He's here – and he's close." she said, looking around waiting for the chance to blast him. Gambit charged a handful of cards, ready to assault the entire forest if need be. Storm made the winds rise up, looking to K and gently shifting them, trying to give her a chance to sniff him out. K nodded at her, then closing her eyes, stretched out to her full tiny height, inhaling deeply. _Jean – _she called out mentally _I think I found him. He's off to the west a bit. I can smell Logan and Scott to the north-northwest, I think Logan is tracking. Where are Iceman and Rogue?_ Jean looked behind her before answering _They're behind us, coming up from the south-east._ K nodded then pointed to the direction she knew Creed to be, cluing in the rest of the group. She needn't have bothered though as a few moments later, the sound of snarling erupted from that direction. Bellowing, snarling ferocity, trees breaking, and occasionally the sound of Scott's beams breaking the fray, always followed by an angry bellow from Creed. The fight was getting closer as Rogue picked up Jubilee taking her to Hank and the jet. The rest of the team spread out, waiting for them to break through the clearing. When they did, Sabretooth was more crazed than any of them had ever seen him, even Logan. The two were locked together, their claws buried in the each other, neither willing to retract, both hoping the other would just bleed out. Wolverine's cowl and a large portion of his uniform was torn off, blood covered most of his body. Creed was in no better shape. His clothing was shredded similarly, and blood dripped from his soaked hair. Scott came up behind them, motioning them to spread out in a circle around the two and help Wolverine when the opportunity presented itself. On seeing the X-men in the clearing, and his bait gone, Creed got madder somehow and just started to clench his fingers within Wolverine's belly causing the smaller man to scream out as Creed shredded his guts. He did the only thing he could do to retaliate – he began twisting his claws in Creed's chest and side, Creed screaming out in agony matching Wolverine's. Still, neither would yield. Creed pulled one hand free from Logan's back, tearing out a kidney to reach up and shred his throat before Logan could retract a claw. With a sickening gurgle, Logan's body went limp and Creed threw him to the side, stomping on his stomach and groin, just trying to mutilate now. Scott shot over his shoulder and Creed turned to the circle of X-men around him, assessing the situation. He looked satisfied and ready to just run when his eyes locked on K and widened. Wiping off his mouth of Logan's blood he turned to face her.

"I thought I smelled you on him. You better pray his scent isn't _in_ you." he growled stalking towards her, completely ignoring the near full team of mutants around him. When he was a few good paces from Logan's body, They all struck. Gambit's cards flew as everyone's hair stood on end from the forthcoming massive bolt of lightning Storm fried him with. Before he could pass out, Jean blasted him with her full force, knocking him out as he hit the ground, unconscious and smoking. K skirted around him and ran to Logan's side. He wasn't moving at all. She leaned over him, listening for a heartbeat. It was quiet, but there, as was a very soft gurgling as he tried to breathe. Tears came to her eyes as Scott rested his hand on her shoulder.

"He's come back from worse. Don't worry." He told her, trying to be reassuring. Jean used her TK to lift his body, floating him to the jet while Bobby brought Scott a set of strange metal mittens that slipped over Creeds' claws and a muzzle that made him look like the maniacal psychopath he was. They dragged him back with them, Loading him into the cargo area, tying him tightly. K found her way to Logan's side. She started to help clean him up, unable to do more while Hank continued to attend to Jubilee. When they landed, She stayed with Logan as most of the team hauled Creed to a cell. Scott said their purpose was to keep him there until S.H.I.E.L.D. could retrieve him.

Hank gave K a chair next to Logan, kindly giving her permission to remain with him. Jubilee had awakened on the jet and was mostly cleared by Hank before they hit the ground. Scott and Jean were debriefing her on how it happened, and if she had found his motives.

K was sick to her stomach as she watched Logan ever so slowly knitting back together. Her heart jumped into a panic as his gurgling got louder, jumping up and looking him over, trying to find the cause of the decline. Hank appeared at his side a moment later.

"Disturbing as it is, that is a good sign. He's getting more air now." Hank said patting her hand that was clutching on to Logan's. The sounds he was making had her on edge. Hank seemed to be right though, as his healing seemed to speed up considerably. She started to drift off when the gurgling became quiet again, her head leaning on his hand as she sat next to him. She woke up with him stroking her hair gently. She looked up, worry on her face as he smiled back to her.

"Logan, I'm so sorry..." She started to say but he waved it off, urging her to come closer. She carefully sat on the edge of his bed and he grabbed her, pulling her to him roughly, kissing her.

"Did he touch you?" he whispered, his voice raspy. She shook her head no. He nodded, leaning back into the pillow. "Let's get outta here." he rasped, sliding his legs off the bed. She rushed to his side, ready to help him if he needed it, but as soon as he was upright, he was rock solid.

His battered appearance gained a few looks from curious newer students as they made their way up the stairs. He pulled her into his bedroom, unzipping the uniform she still wore as he kissed her, pushing her back towards the bed. She was taken back by his aggressive tone. When she fell back onto the bed, he grabbed her boots, yanking them off. She shimmied out of the uniform as he removed what was left of his, revealing a lot of dried blood underneath that she didn't think to clean. He was on her quickly, ravaging her, his hands everywhere at once.

"Slow down, Logan – I'm not going anywhere." she said breathlessly as he nibbled her neck, caressing her roughly. He paid little attention to her suggestion, pulling her legs around him, and settling in between them. He was already aroused and ready to go when she pulled his head off her neck, looking him in the face.

"What's gotten into you?" She asked him. He smirked, kissed her then began sliding kisses lower as he answered.

"Been a rough day. We were interrupted, and then you kneed me in the balls, followed by that jackass tearin' out my throat. Forgive me if I wanna make love to my woman." He mumbled as he continued nibbling on her neck.

Her eyebrows popped up. _His woman?_ _Oh damn, that's hot._ She thought as he worked his magic. She kinda liked this more aggressive tone.


	11. Everything goes South

Deep in the underground section of the Xavier Institute Sabretooth was finally waking up from his encounter with the X-Men. He looked around the fairly comfortable quarters they'd provided, looking to where the exit was. Last time it was a breeze. Push the barrier and let it zap him until he just pushed through. He smirked to himself. Stupid goodie two shoes actually took the bait. He pulled his boot off and shook a small metal device out onto the floor. Picking it up, he laughed a little to himself as he pressed a button on the end of it and stuck it under his bunk. He'd teach that little bitch to run from him. He leaned back and relaxed knowing it would just be a matter of time before his employer sprung him, and snatched up the runt and his little whore. Just thinking about her both pissed him off and turned him on. They'd promised to give her to him if the tests didn't work out. He was mad as hell when they did, and livid when she gutted him with those damn claws. If it weren't for those fucking claws … he shook his head. Plenty of time for that later. First, he'd get to break the runt. Watch him lose it while they finished up what they started with her, then he'd make sure to get a piece of her ass when she was a little less breakable. He smiled, hoping that he could do it with the runt being forced to watch. The thought got him hard. Yeah, that's the way it'll go down. And when he was broken up about all they did to her, then the fun would start. The professor had promised to wipe the little runt from her mind entirely. That would seal the deal. He looked at the clock outside of his cell. Wouldn't be long now.

…...

Logan's eyes popped open. He looked around wildly, his heart pounding. He looked over at K, who was now sitting up with him, her eyes wide, and fear on her face. They looked at each other and wordlessly scrambled out of bed, Logan screaming for Jean in his head. They were frantically pulling on enough clothing to cover what was necessary as they ran from his room. Jean was at the door of her room, looking frazzled.

"I don't understand Logan what's going on?" Jean asked alarm in her voice.

"Choppers, Jeannie …. a bunch of them – they're not far off, get everyone up and out. NOW!" Logan replied as K rushed down the stairs, Logan on her heels. He spun her around by her elbow.

"What's the plan?" he said, stress showing, but being over ruled by years of dealing with this kind of bullshit.

"Do you have any weapons?" She asked looking stony. He shook his head.

"Not something we keep around." He replied as she started pacing. The hallway erupted with quiet disorder as the students began to stream past them to the lower levels, funneling to their planned escape routes, and escorted by the staff of the Institute. Charles rolled up to the duo.

"The children will be clear in a matter of minutes. There are at least a dozen units on their way. We should leave." Charles said looking up to Logan "ALL of us."

Logan looked irritated, and told K to go with Charles, turning and walking the other way. She watched him take a few steps before she got angry.

"What the hell are you doing?" She yelled at him, panic starting to get the better of her.

"Just go on." he said, his face blank. Remy had taken her hand and was starting to pull her with him. She yanked herself from his grip and ran up behind Logan grabbing his arm.

"You can't stay here alone – there's too many of them. Please!" she pleaded. From nowhere, Gambit and Scott walked up behind her.

"She's right, Logan." Scott said. "You can't do this alone." Logan scoffed.

"You gonna drag me out?" he asked, challenging him.

"No, that would make sense. We're going to go the monumentally stupid route and stay to help you. The last thing we need is for those people to brainwash you into killing the good guys again." Scott said, surprising Logan to silence. He simply blinked a few times and nodded his head once.

"I tink dat's mebbe his way of sayin' merci." Remy teased. The sound of the choppers was unmistakable now even to Remy and Scott.

"Alright, we need a plan." Scott started "Any ideas?" They looked to each other a moment as Bobby trotted up.

"Kids are all out. What are we doing?" He said, a little winded. Logan started to smile. They might have a chance.

"They'll probably have heat sensors. Bobby, figure out how to shield us from them." Bobby nodded and opened a window, encasing the building in a solid foot of ice, leaving only two entrances as Scott continued. Remy stuck near Logan and Scott and K trekked off to a different area that Bobby had left cleared for an entry. Bobby started to head to his place as Jean ran up to him, breathless to join him. She concentrated hard and linked up all of them so they could keep in silent contact.

The sound of commandos trying to sneak through the halls sounded like elephants to the rest of the group through their connection with Logan and K. As they got close to her, Jean gave them a psychic command to basically forget all of their training and orders. The result was a solid platoon worth of heartless mercenaries that had no idea who or where they were. Some actually looked frightened at the other groups of men sneaking through the building. There was some friendly fire on their part, and a small group of them died at the hands of their comrades.

Scott and K were slipping down a hallway when she grabbed him and pulled him into an empty classroom, covering his mouth, and peeking out the crack in the door as they were just missed by a small group of men traveling through. Scott was smirking when she removed her hand. She rolled her eyes at him but before she could turn back towards the door, Creed burst through it.

Logan had lost his patience and had started shredding soldiers as soon as he smelled Creed loose. He hadn't found him yet, but he and Remy were making a heavy dent in their numbers. From the corner of his eye, he spotted Creed, running hard for the exit. He had K over his shoulder, hands and feet bound, and looking bloodied and unconscious. He panicked and sliced through anyone that was in his path between them and as he burst through the door behind Creed, he was hit. Heavy fire opened up around him, before he could get too far, he was on his knees. Bullets puncturing him, ricocheting off his bones, tearing him up. Blood everywhere. The troops that were inside were now behind him, shooting him from all sides now. He lost the battle, passing out in a pool of his own blood to the hail of gunfire.

Logan woke up in a metal cell. He was stripped down and covered in sticky not quite dry blood. He got up and tried to see across the black hallway. He saw another cell much like his with a naked figure on the ground. He squinted harder, trying to see who it was, when Creed's voice echoed in the hall way.

"Glad to see you up, Runt. Going to make this next part that much more fun. Didn't want you to miss it." He laughed as he walked towards Logan's cell. He tried to pop his claws into Creed's face on the other side of the bars but couldn't, a sharp pain ringing up his arms. Looking down, he realized he was wearing the same kind of restraints Scott had put on Creed. Creed just laughed at him. The naked figure across the hall started to move. Both men looked over in time to see her sit up, and for Logan to realize it was K. His jaw locked and he reached through the bars, managing to wrap his arm around Creed's throat, hauling him back against the bars with all his strength. When he tried to pull himself free from him, Logan braced his feet on the bars too, using every ounce he had to strangle the bastard. A shot rang out as a dart hit Logan in the neck. He kept choking Creed though as more darts hit him. Creed had quit struggling and gone limp, but Logan kept a tight hold on him even as he started to drift into blackness.

When he woke up, he was chained tight, muzzled and totally immobile. He blinked hard, looking around. He wasn't in the cell anymore. Steel tables, medical equipment and a tank of greenish water were all around him. He could smell something hot nearby too. Hazily, he looked around, trying to concentrate. The voice of a ghost from his past snapped him out of the haze.

"I really don't know why I agreed to this, Creed."He started, looking towards Logan with a stony face. "Gentlemen, it appears that Weapon X is now awake, Cornelius, are we ready to begin?" the professor's voice echoed in the vast room. "Hines, be sure that we are recording – if Creed is correct, we'll need the footage later when we start his reprogramming." He turned to Logan, cold hatred on his face. "You've set us back years, but I will have my weapon. One way or another." Logan growled in response. The professor was talking to a crowd that Logan hadn't realized was there until now, high above the lab was observation rooms filled with some high ranking military from several countries. He could hear translators relaying the information the bald lab rat was saying if he tried to listen. He looked around him again as he spoke, ignoring his long winded sales pitch. His eyes finally froze and focused on the tank in front of him. K was in it. Wires and leads were covering her body. He skin was punctured with some odd looking heavy needles. His eyes widened. A goddamned demonstration. He looked to her head, an oxygen mask was on her tightly, maybe too tightly. Her hair floated in the liquid like seaweed and her eyes were closed. The protrusions on her face made him wince. Looking back down her body, his heart was racing. She looked totally peaceful and unaware. The fingers on her hand nearest him twitched as he looked at her and he quit breathing for a second. They were going to make him watch. He began to struggle, trying to find a way out of his bonds. It was then that the professor turned to him, explaining to the crowd the tie between the two. Several of the military men started nodding their head in approval, waiting to see the big show as Logan panicked. He could hardly wiggle. A large hand slipped up under his jaw, holding his head facing the tank as the machinery started to warm up. A second hand steadied him, making sure he couldn't move away or turn his head from it. All at once, it happened. The professor gave an order and a loud beep echoed in the room as the feed began.

K's eyes flew open and she was screaming silently, unable to move as the water around her boiled. She tried to struggle, but got nowhere with it, her hand, flat against the glass, trying to pound it. Her back arched as she tried to get away from the searing heat that was invading her. Suddenly, there was a bloom of blood in the water as one of her eyes popped from the extreme heat. She writhed, screaming so loudly that some of the scientists could hear her now, even with her underwater. Then all at once, she went silent and her body went limp as the weight of the metal they'd poured into her sunk her down in the tube. The monitors on her heart and respiration were flat. Logan's eyes were locked on her, as he held his breath. He broke, tears leaking down his face when her heart started up again.

Relief and horror hit him in equal parts. She was alive. She was alive, but they were going to ruin her. The professor turned his attention back to Logan, his expression triumphant and gloating. When he saw how Logan was reacting, he smiled. Nodding to Hines that she could stop the recording. He had everything he needed. He signaled for them both to be returned to their cells as he continued his sales pitch to the military men.

They threw Logan in his cell not bothering to untie him from his chains. As far as the guards were concerned, this one was best left like he was. He watched as they dragged K back to her cell, still barely moving. They dropped her on the floor and closed the door behind them. When she started to wake up in earnest, her moaning caught Logan's attention. He called out to her and she turned slowly, tired and worn, her eye not yet grown back. His anger began to rise again. She was hurt worse than he was after the bonding. She was still bleeding and not healing fast enough. It was then that Creed made his appearance. He scowled at Logan before turning to K.

"Hurry up and heal, girl. You and I have a little fun planned." he snarled at her as he passed by. Logan was beginning to shake in rage. Tears began to trickle down K's face. She tried to lift her head, but it was just so damn heavy.

"Logan," she began, her voice shaky. "I can barely move. Everything's just so heavy."she said weakly. He was silent, not knowing what to say. "I can't stop him, Logan." she barely whispered, sadness echoing in her whispers.

"Just rest." he finally replied. "He doesn't have permission to do anything until you're whole, or he would have." he said grimly. She nodded in the darkness, her eyes heavy as she passed out again. Logan couldn't sleep. Every time he drifted off the image of her writhing and screaming would appear, or he'd see Creed violating her, making it so he could hardly close his eyes without seeing something he wished had never happened or never would happen.

She woke up, finally whole. At least, both of her eyes were there and working. She made to sit up, and it was terrible work. She was so weak. She wasn't sure what had happened to her. All she knew was she had her ass handed to her. She looked across the hall to Logan, who was watching her.

"What happened?" she asked, standing slowly. _Good God, even this is work._ She thought as she leaned against the wall.

"Pop your claws, sweetheart." Logan said quietly. She looked at him an eyebrow raised in question. He nodded to her, as if to say 'go on' and doubtfully, she did. She stared at them, hands shaking as she slid down the wall, clearly in shock. "I'm so sorry, honey." Logan said sadly. She looked at him harder now, realizing he wasn't just sitting strangely, Indian style, but he was bound that way.

"Oh, Logan." she said, her voice wavering. She looked around the cell. She looked across to Logan again – his cell looked odd. "Why is your cell different?" she asked, squinting.

"Coated in Adamantium. Kinda stupid, seeing as I'm tied up tighter than a damn drum." he half grumbled. Her eyes widened as she tried to gain her bearings.

"Logan, I'm in concrete." she whispered. He looked up at her, eyes widening. There was hope for her. He leaned forward, trying to look up and down the hallway.

"Are you getting around OK?" he whispered back. She shrugged, testing out walking with the extra weight. It would take a little getting used to, but she thought she'd be alright. She looked around her cell, then decided now was as good a time as any. She tried out her claws, carving out the concrete like it was soft butter. She tried the bars on her door – plain steel. No problem. She sliced the door letting herself out and right over to Logan who was already shaking his head.

"_Run!_ Just get outta here!" he whispered. She ignored him and stuck her claws through the access panel on his cell, popping the door and setting off an alarm. She cut the chains they had him in, making him mobile. She couldn't do anything about his gloves, but if they could get back to the X-men, that could be handled easily. She helped him to his feet as Sabretooth's roar echoed in the hallway.

The pair started to run, knowing that he was just a warm up and that guards would be behind him. He caught up to them just outside the outer doors, the heavy bomb door closing behind him, sealing the guards into the complex for a while waiting for the system reset. Creed had a hold of Logan, pounding him mercilessly as Logan fought with all he had. K had fallen, out of breath, trying to compensate for running with the extra weight.

Logan had landed some solid hits, but without his claws bleeding Creed out, he was unable to keep up with him blow for blow. He had Logan on the ground, sitting on his waist, pounding him when he realized Logan was dazed, barely able to lift his arms in defense. A wicked smile drifted across his face as he decided he'd choke the little runt out - payback for earlier. He had his hands around Logan's throat, swearing at him, Logan's hand drifted up, weakly trying to pull Creed's hand off of him. A vessel in Logan's eye popped making the whites of his eye brightly bloodshot as he choked, his grip on Creed's arm slipping as he began to black out.

K panicked. She threw herself at Creed, jumping on his back,punching him anywhere she could reach, trying to draw his attention off Logan. He stopped laughing, when he realized the extra weight was making her hits more substantial then before. Inspiration struck as he reached around and pulled her down. He pinned her by the throat, letting Logan go for a moment, and turning his head towards K. Logan was gasping heavily, unable to move as Creed held her down, and undid his fly.

"I've been waiting years for this." Creed growled out. He held her down as he positioned himself. She struggled against him with all she had as Logan weakly swung at Creed. When he had her where he wanted her, he reached back over to Logan, clutching his throat, forcing him to watch as he forced himself on her. Logan's adrenaline hit and he fought harder, only to have Creed squeeze his throat harder, choking the air and the fight out of him. Creed's breathing became ragged as he got closer to finishing. He couldn't believe his luck. He'd get to screw his girl and kill the runt at one time. Both K and Logan were struggling – K still unused to the weight she now carried, and Logan unable to breathe. Suddenly, his hand on her wrists let loose, sliding down to hold onto her hip. She looked at Logan then back at Creed, his eyes half closed in his pleasure as he started to speed up just before she swung her arm up removing his head from his body. His grip let loose on Logan, who managed to weakly kick him off her.

She hurriedly rolled towards Logan, crying, as he gathered his strength for a moment, pulling her to him, and trying to kiss her. They helped each other up, Logan coughing as they headed into the woods. He lead the way, never letting go of her hand. They crossed an icy river and found a place to hide, hours later watching a platoon of soldiers rush past, looking for them as they huddled together. Peeking out of a nearly invisible cave as fresh snow fell outside.


	12. Aftermath

Logan watched from their cave as the troops headed back to the hidden base ahead of the snowstorm that was building outside. It was warm enough in there as long as the wind didn't blow directly into the mouth of the cave. K was huddled into a ball, still in shock from everything that had happened. She'd run with Logan in silence, unable to answer even the simplest question he threw at her as they trekked through the woods. He had gotten more concerned about her mental state as they trekked on. When the blizzard picked up, he went to where she laid in the far corner of the cave. She was wet, shivering and getting cold. He looked around them, swearing to himself that he hadn't just killed a couple soldiers so they'd at least be clothed. She slept off the trauma while Logan waited for the opening of the cave to blow shut. Once it was closed, he slipped down to her, spooning her. She stiffened when he first touched her, but relaxed a bit as he spoke to her squeezing her tightly as she settled into him.

She woke up a few hours later, Logan waking easily when she moved.

"Where are we?" she asked mumbling. She sat up stretching, her tongue not wanting to work properly and her body feeling like she'd been hit by a truck.

"Not sure. Montana, I think. That's where they were testing out of last I knew." Logan said, tired from the fiasco.

"Are you sure?" K asked turning to look at him. He thought of the Native and how things had ended for her near a cliff not far from here. Grimly, he nodded his head in the low light. The wind was howling outside.

"Now what?" she asked quietly. Her hair had partially frozen from the river crossing which had thankfully washed away all the blood the pair had lost and spilled, and had mostly washed away Creed's scent from her. He pulled her closer, wrapping himself around her.

"We should warm you up and make a run for it in the storm. They won't be out in it. Too hard on them, and the choppers can't fly in this mess." He told her, stroking her back. She wove her arms around him, and shyly kissed his shoulder before leaning her head on him.

"I'm sorry, Logan." she said sadly. He picked his head up, looking at her as if she'd lost her mind.

"What for?" he growled out.

"Creed." she said quietly. She felt guilty for what had happened, as if doing something else might have had a different outcome.

"Stop it." he growled "Not your fault that he raped you. I should have stopped it."

She fell silent, shaking her head no. She couldn't get the words out. He was so wrong. Creed meant to kill him, and he had to know it.

"I'm sorry, K. I should have protected you better." He said quietly. Anger seemed to clear her head a little.

"NO. Not your fault." was all she could manage, tears in her eyes, her voice shaking out of anger.

He nodded gently tipping her neck to the side and nuzzling her as best he could with the muzzle still on whispering 'OK. OK.'. Her hand drifted up to his face, running her fingers over the device as she blinked away her angry tears.

"How does this come off?" she asked, squinting at it in the low light. He chuckled.

"Beats me. Cyke would have to tell ya." He said. She tapped on it with her fingernail.

"What's it made of?" she asked, leaning closer to it, examining what she could of it.

"Why? You feelin' brave?" he asked as he cocked his eyebrow up.

"Not really." she replied. He nodded and she popped one claw, bringing it nearer to him, then freezing up and retracting it as her hand shook from the cold.

"I can't do it. It feels - weird." she spit out. He took her hand in his and brought her hand closer.

"Let me do it then." he said. "Go on, gimme one." he said, covering her hand with his when she did, and maneuvering it towards his face, gently touching the edge on the muzzle, testing it. As luck would have it, the claw slid through it easily. Logan's eyes brightened.

"You're going to have to slip it between the muzzle and my neck. Don't worry about cutting me." he told her. Nervously she followed his instructions. When it cut through, he wrenched it off, tossing it away. He looked back to her smiling as he pulled her to him and began kissing the sense out of her. When he finally let her up for air, she stared at him breathlessly.

"What was that for?" she said, panting. He grinned at her in response.

"For bein' alive." he said, smiling "and killin' that piece of trash." She blushed deeply in response.

"How long were we there?" she asked, rubbing her hand on the beard he now wore.

"Not too long. Grows in fast." he answered, his smile turning predatory as he advanced on her, pushing her backwards as he covered her body.

"Doesn't it bother you?" she asked as he pulled her leg over his hip.

"What?" he mumbled, licking his way down her neck.

"That I … that I let him -." she choked up unable to finish her thought and he stopped, lifting his head to look her in the eyes.

"You didn't let him do anything. Don't let him change you now." He said seriously kissing her deeply, and repositioning himself to lay next to her, pulling her close as the raging storm outside suddenly fell silent.

He froze, his head whipping towards the entrance, cursing the metal coverings on his hands that kept him from letting his claws fly. He stalked toward the entrance and waited, listening for any clues. He gently began to poke through the snow, looking outside. He beckoned her to come with as the hole opened up. He stuck his head out and a grin broke across his face.

"That solves a few problems." he said digging out more quickly now. The blackbird was waiting for them at the bottom of the mountainside in a clearing of fresh snow. They started down the mountain, him holding her hand as she stumbled her way down, looking amazed at the wall of snow that Storm had kept swirling around the clearing. When they reached the bottom, Scott was smirking, a blanket in his hand holding it out to Logan who rushed forward and snatched it from him, taking it back to wrap K in it, who was shivering heavily now as Logan picked her up. Hank had another blanket ready at the top of the steps, ready to assess the woman who Logan was now carrying.

Scott quickly got them airborne as Hank checked over K and tried to talk Logan into setting K down and wrapping his own blanket around himself.

"She's cold, Henry." Logan protested, clutching her bare body to himself, covering them both as she shivered heavily. The flight back was uneventful. After a little while, K stopped shivering causing Hank to quit hovering. K sighed, relaxing in Logan's arms as she fell asleep, her arms wrapped around him.

When they landed, K was still out. Reluctantly, Logan wrapped her in the blanket and handed her to Hank who was surprised by her sudden weight gain. Logan got dressed quickly and stuck to her side when Hank set her down in the hospital bed. Blood was drawn, tests were run, but he didn't want to release her until she woke up. Predictably, her tests came out fine.

When her eyes opened, her heart monitor ran wild. Before Hank could get to her side, she'd already torn off her leads and IV and was nearly in tears, backing away from him before recognizing there was no threat. She bumped into Logan who was coming in to see her, panicking when she did so – jumping away from him as he made to touch her arm. When she realized her mistake, she simply went to the ground in a slump. Sitting there, holding her head in her hands and shaking in her flimsy hospital gown.

"Sweetheart, come on." Logan urged gently. "Let's get you outta this lab and dressed." He wrapped his arms around her trying to help her stand, and steady her. Silently she went with him and did as he asked.

Charles had watched her little meltdown. He had been with Logan, having just finished hearing what he was sure was a condensed version on events and was just behind him when K had bumped Logan and panicked. The terror she was broadcasting was palpable. There was no thought to it, just pure fear. Unlike Logan though, her first inclination did not seem to be to fight. She was looking for a way out.

Charles saw her a few weeks later, curled up in the library, book forgotten and staring out the window. She was troubled, her arms wrapped tightly around herself, her knees drawn to her chest and resting her head on her knees.

"I haven't seen you in a while, K. Have you been hiding?" Charles said quietly as he rolled up next to her. She picked up her head and looked at him a second before her eyes fell to the ground.

"I'm sorry." she whispered, her knuckles turning white as she clenched her fists in the fabric of her jeans. She was sorely depressed, showing all the signs of a person that had endured recent trauma.

"Would you join me for tea this afternoon? You don't have to talk about anything. I won't intrude, but I am concerned for you, and I'm here if you would like to talk." Charles said, very gently. She seemed to think it over for a bit before nodding her head and releasing her grip on her jeans, slowly stretching out her legs.

"Thank you." she replied finally. Charles touched her hand gently, giving her a little squeeze.

"I'll see you at two, then?" he asked his eyes twinkling. She nodded again and swung her feet over the edge of the window seat as Charles left her to gather herself.

She sighed to herself. She was isolating. Logan was being patient with her, understanding even as she shut him out. She hadn't slept in his room since the first night after their return. They'd gone to bed, he'd spooned her, kissing her neck as she drifted off, but when she woke up a few hours later with his arm over her waist, feeling his breath on her shoulder, she panicked. She'd pushed away from him, and was backed against the wall, claws out until she realized who it was before melting to the floor, crying. He tried to comfort her, but she felt so guilty at her reaction towards him. Ultimately, she couldn't do that to him again. She didn't return to his room the next night, and had been avoiding him since then. She was heartbroken. She felt something special with him, and now she was wrecking it with her paranoid reactions. He told her he would help her, his door was open for her. She thought she was losing her mind. She couldn't sleep without him. Alone in the dark ended up being very bad for her. She would close her eyes and be back in the cell.

Sleeping with him was nearly as bad. She'd move in her sleep and feeling him against her would trigger a different panic mode where all she could hear was Creed's lusty breaths in her ears as he held her down. She was a mess, and hadn't talked to a soul since the last time she was in Logan's room. To top it off, she was now becoming quite jittery as she could not sleep. Charles suspected much of this. He knew that Logan was acting similarly, though not as severe. He too couldn't sleep. When he closed his eyes he saw her in the tank, heard her screams and watched her agony that he knew all too well. For him, it was that, paired with the helplessness he felt when Creed had pounded him mercilessly then choked him nearly to death. Her face when Creed violated her, that was what haunted him.

They were both heartbroken, and that was where Charles hoped to heal them both. He knew K had been avoiding Logan out of a misplaced sense of guilt, and he hoped that she would stop if she realized he was feeling so much like she did.

K arrived at Charles' office right on time. She'd changed out of the jeans and baggy sweater she'd been wearing, opting for something more formal – a long black dress and a dark gray cardigan. He smiled, complementing her as she took a seat next to him. Her eyes rarely left the floor. They simply sat together, sipping their tea, Charles keeping to his promise to simply keep in her company if that's all she wanted. Charles observed that she'd lost weight since her return, her cheekbones were more prominent, and she'd lost some of her natural beauty, her eyes looked sunken and darker, her cheeks hollow and her lips thin. Her hands and wrists looked thinner, more bony. Her collarbone was much more pronounced. Realization hit him. She had quit eating. Anger and pity choked him up as the weight of it hit him. She'd pushed everyone away, and now she was just waiting to die. He looked at her cup and noticed that she really hadn't drank more than half a cup in the half hour they'd sat together. He brushed her mind gently to try to determine if it was a conscious effort or if she just was uninterested in trying to do what was necessary. He found nothing but a profound numbness in her mind. Perhaps it was unintentional then. She was still in shock, or maybe this would qualify now as PTSD. She glanced at the clock, their tea time was nearly up. Before she could say anything, Charles smiled at her.

"Thank you, K. I do hope you'll come back again tomorrow. Same time?" He asked, gentle smile on his face, as always. She stared at him a moment then nodded in agreement, thanking him quietly as she rose and left the room. Once she was gone, he called for Logan, who was slow to respond to him. He entered his office without a word, looking meaner than he had in months. Three steps in the door, he stopped, closing his eyes and taking a slow deep breath. He hadn't expected to smell her there. When he opened them, the pain there was fresh, and slowly replaced itself with anger. Charles didn't waste any time with him.

"Do you still love her?" Charles blurted out. Logan locked eyes with him, his jaw clenching.

"What difference does it make? She doesn't want me anymore." he growled out, hurt apparent in his voice. Charles smiled kindly.

"You're wrong, my friend. I need your help. I know you said you didn't want to do it, but I need for you to show me what happened while you two were in captivity. I need to see all of it in order to help her, and if all works out, you as well." Charles said evenly. Logan shook his head.

"Why don't you ask her? It happened to her, I was just a damn bystander." Logan replied. Charles shook his head.

"She is too fragile for me to simply look without her total cooperation." he told Logan honestly.

"What do you mean?" Logan asked, concern for her overriding his heartbreak.

"She isn't well, Logan. Her mind is numb, overpowered by guilt, trauma, and heartbreak." Charles said. Logan sat down, looking worried."That's not all either. I do not believe she's eaten anything since your return." he finished, sending Logan a mental picture of K from their tea time. Logan looked sick.

"Come on, Charlie. She's not that bad, is she?" he asked, looking for a lie on the telepath's face.

"I'm sorry, Logan, she was likely already working overtime to recover from what they did to her, and I needn't tell you how much food is required to keep your healing ability working properly when there's been an injury."Charles said as he waited for Logan's cooperation. He didn't have to wait long.

"Fine. Just … do it already." Logan said letting out a breath and closing his eyes, shame washing over him as he anticipated Charles' reaction to all that Logan could only witness. Charles took a moment before he began, trying to prepare for anything that might come from this session.

When they were finished, Charles closed his eyes, rubbing the bridge of his nose as Logan tried to control the emotions he'd just relived, up to the last night they spent together. He could now fully understand why Logan was so hard to be around lately.

"Thank you, Logan." Charles said. "We're having tea tomorrow at two. Please come see me an hour before." Logan looked at him strangely.

"Any reason, Charlie?" He asked, eyes narrowed.

"To see if she has the same reaction you did when you walked through the door smelling her." Charles replied, finding no reason to try to cover his intentions from Logan.

"You think she still cares?" Logan asked, doubt in his voice. He was disbelieving when Charles nodded his head.

…...

Two o'clock. K let out a breath and knocked on the tall mahogany double doors, turning the knob when Charles invited her in. Two steps in and her hand flew to her chest as Logan's scent filled her head. _Oh God._ She thought as her heart ached suddenly. _I miss him._ Charles tried hard to hide his smile as he caught her thoughts and the deep emotion attached to them. Slowly she made her way to him, reveling in the fading scent of the one she wanted but felt she couldn't have. Surely, she was too damaged for him. Charles kept it light, though K couldn't sit still today. He didn't push her, but today talked to her about the goings on around the mansion, concentrating was incredibly hard for her. She found herself nodding as Charles asked if she could show him what happened to her while in captivity. Blinking, she tried hard to remember why she'd agreed as Charles delightedly asked her to relax. That was a laugh itself. She didn't know HOW to relax anymore. Fortunately however, she was so worn down that getting into her mind without harming her was a simple endeavor. He asked her to guide him through the events.

Her perspective was a different world to Logan's. He saw Logan's face as he strangled Creed through the bars, then just fuzziness until she awoke during the bonding process – her memory there nearly identical to Logan's bonding. That alone would have given her more than enough trauma to last her. But then he saw something Logan didn't. The taunting while Logan was unconscious. The awful things Creed told her, and promised to do to her, while forcing Logan to watch. The promise that she'd be nothing to him when Creed was through with her. The promise Creed made to kill him once he'd taken K as his. The fighting, the running and her perspective of the rape. She paid little attention to what Creed was doing to her at the time, too horrified that Logan had to watch as Creed made good on his promise. The rage that grew so quickly the second she had a chance to change it, and her quick action that got Logan breathing again. It was only when Logan kicked Creed's crushing weight from her that she realized the impact of what the rape itself had on her, the strong scent of him clinging to her, sticky between her legs as she could only really see Logan's eyes as he chose the path they'd leave on. All the normal thoughts rape victims have flooded her.

She blamed herself for not stabbing Creed instead of trying to pull him off Logan. She blamed herself for not fighting harder, ignoring the fact that she could hardly run, unused to the weight she carried.

Then, just before he broke the connection, he found she felt guilty for how she'd reacted to Logan's touch. Guilt for how she'd hidden from him and avoided him. Guilt for her fear of being alone in the dark, because what dreams she had that weren't flashbacks were twisted versions of reality, where all of Creeds' promises had come to fruition with Logan's bloodshot eyes staring at her lifelessly. Guilt for the fact that she wanted to die.

Charles handed her a tissue as she tried to not cry. She needed this. To see she had people that love her.

"He misses you terribly." Charles said, causing her to have a new wave of guilt crash down on her. "I can help you if you let me, K. And if you want him, he will gladly take you back." She shook her head, tears falling freely now.

"How could he? I'm damaged goods now." she said sadly. Charles brow pulled together.

"No man has the power to change a woman fundamentally simply by forcing himself on her. You are damaged, but not in the manner you think. You need to talk about this. To anyone. Get it out, it will help you to get over it. Don't let this horrid experience define you." Charles said, authority and experience in his words. "Don't let it stop you from loving the man that loves you and wants you back."

She weighed his words, and found sense in them, and hope.

"Come in" Charles said, K looking towards the door she didn't hear a knock from. Logan stepped in, quietly closing it behind him. He locked eyes with her as they looked at each other and her heart ached for the sadness she found there. Sadness she caused.

"Don't do that." Charles said, squeezing her hand. "Don't entertain those thoughts." He motioned for Logan to join them, and he did, pulling up a chair, not wanting to give her reason to run from him, he left her space.

"I'm sorry, Logan." she said quietly. He waited, nervous about which way she'd go. "I _hope_ that you'll maybe give me a chance to explain myself. I'd understand if you're through with me though." His face relaxed, and he took her hand.

"I'm not goin' anywhere, sweetheart." he told her, kissing her palm. "I've been where you are. Mostly. I won't give up on you." She smiled, relishing his touch. "I do have one condition though." He said, seriously. "Don't shut me out again."She readily agreed, missing him was so much worse than she thought as he pulled her into a hug, his scent enveloping her and bringing her comfort.

Charles smiled to himself. That was much easier than he'd thought. She agreed to talk about it, but she felt she needed a woman's perspective. Her choice was not one that either man could have guessed.


	13. One Step at a Time

K took a deep breath as she lifted her hand to knock on the door leading to the attic of the Xavier mansion. K didn't know Storm well, but she did know that she'd been championing womens' causes with the teen girls that stayed and learned here. She only hoped that Ororo would be willing to help her.

The stunning dark skinned beauty answered the door with a smile that fell when her eyes rested on the tiny, gaunt woman before her.

"K! What's happened to you? You look ill! Please, come, sit!" Ororo said, practically dragging her to a chair. "I haven't seen you lately, what's wrong?" she asked her, feeling bad for not having checked on her earlier.

"I need - " K started to say, trying to grasp the words. "I need a friend, and I don't need a telepath pushing ahead of me right now, unless I ask for it." Storm tipped her head, confused at her formal approach. "Charles told me I need to talk to someone, but I can't talk to him or Logan. A man wouldn't – couldn't – understand."

Storm closed her eyes, sighing, she hoped this wasn't going where she thought it was. When she was younger, she'd made the mistake of catching a ride with a stranger, who nearly raped her. It was in Ororo's panic as she struggled against the man that she accidentally killed him. It scarred her heavily, making her very reluctant to take another life, but also causing her to have a bit of a lifelong aversion to strangers, and men she didn't know well. She reached out and touched K's arm, trying to reassure her.

"What happened, K?" She said calmly, concern on her features. "Was it at the facility?"

K nodded, her eyes on the ground as she slowly began her story. Ororo was horrified, both for K and the damage it had done to her, but also for Logan. She knew it must have been the worst kind of torture for him to be unable to help someone he cared for. They talked for hours. When it was over, both women had tear streaks down their faces, and amazingly, K felt a little better. She even decided to take Ororo's advice and ask Jean to put her into a dreamless sleep. She promised to keep the details of K's story to herself, and she even went so far as to hug her warmly inviting her to see her at any time day or night. Her warmth gave her some hope as she bid her goodnight and slowly made her way to see Jean.

It was still too early for many of the adults to be in bed and Jean was no exception. K could hear her laughter dancing up the stairs, so she followed it to find her joking with Scott and Rogue. When she saw K, her laughter stopped, her eyes widened. It seems as though K had done a fairly exceptional job hiding herself away those past few weeks. Jean did as Storm did, silently observing her as she slowly made her way into the kitchen, leaning on the counters for balance. She could barely get the words out as she talked to Jean, but she did.

"Of course I'll help you sleep, K, but my God – are you even healing?" Jean asked, as K clutched her stomach, a wave of nausea hitting her. She shrugged, unable to answer the question as she hadn't really been injured since their return. Jean picked up K's hand, pointing out that her nails were a silvery blue-gray color. She placed her hands on K's head, tipping her face up to hers, dropping all pretense of politeness.

"When was the last time you ate anything?" Jean asked, alarmed. K didn't answer. Jean looked at her displeased with her lack of response. "I'm sorry, but you're going to see Hank. I know you don't like it down there, but you can't heal if you don't eat." She said heat in her voice.

"I haven't been injured. How the hell am I supposed to know if I'm healing?" K asked frustration coming quickly, a side effect of her self abuse, and a product of people treating her as if she were a child due to her short and slight stature.

"The adamantium, K." Jean said, truly irritated now. "You have around 80 pounds of it you're carting around now. It's toxic. You've broken down your healing factor. You've got heavy metal toxicity." She said nodding for Scott to help her get K down to Hank when K put her hand up towards him.

"Don't touch me. Don't you _dare_ touch me." K half growled out to Scott as Logan walked in. Assessing the scene he turned to Jean, his eyes going between she and her husband.

"What's going on, Jeannie?" Logan asked cautiously, not sure of how to approach the situation. Sighing, Jean rubbed her temple.

"Her healing factor is shot so she's got adamantium poisoning all because because she won't eat." She said quickly. "I was telling Scott to take her down to Hank for treatment." Logan looked to K, who at the moment looked ready to tear Scott a new one for what Jean thought was simply trying to help. Logan knew better. It was for the promise of spending time in a lab. He looked at Jean knowing she didn't understand what the problem was.

"Wouldn't it be smarter to get Hank up here – OUT of the lab?" Logan asked as he looked at Jean meaningfully. For a split second she looked at Logan like he was totally nuts, but when he projected to her his viewpoint of the tank she was in complete with her screaming, she paled, understood and went for Hank.

Logan sat her down, knowing when he looked at her that Jean was totally right. She needed to go to the lab. How to get her in there without triggering another trauma though was not an easy task. Her wound was still fresh and vivid in her mind. Scott handed her a mug of tea, trying to make amends. K picked it up, sniffing it before raising it to her lips, abandoning it quickly when her stomach clenched up on her.

Celia and Hank walked in a few minutes later without their lab coats on. Jean had asked them to take all precautions to avoid upsetting her. They sat down near her at the table, and Hank gently took her hand, examining her much as Jean had done. He quickly came to the same conclusion, and asking a few additional questions.

"There are two ways to approach this." He said gently, his hand resting on hers. "You won't like either option though, I'm afraid. Option one is that Celia hands me the shot I have in my bag that counteracts the adamantium poisoning and you must immediately start getting some food in your system." he said firmly, weighing her reaction as she squirmed in her chair. "Option two would be that you come down to the lab," she pulled her hand from his, clenching it into a fist "and we put you on a dialysis machine to remove the level of toxins in your blood and we start a feeding tube giving you the nutrients your body so desperately needs." She looked at him as if he'd suggested she light herself on fire. "Of course, the second option is one we will be forced to look at if your condition continues to deteriorate. The key will be discerning what the cause of the toxicity is."

"You're kidding, right? You know what the cause is." K snapped at him. Hank shook his head.

"Of course, the _source_ is clear. I meant to say the reason your system is failing." She blinked in confusion. "You haven't eaten properly in weeks, correct?" Hank asked. K reluctantly nodded.  
"Well, you didn't have very long since your skeleton was bonded, so we need to find out if the failure is from the procedure they forced on you failing at a molecular level or your blatant self neglect." his kind tone now gone, K truly felt her self hatred scale go up a few notches as she struggled to keep the tears from spilling down her cheeks. She nodded quickly, and whispered "the shot." Logan put his arm around her as Celia prepared the proper dosage. She turned her head into his shoulder as Hank extended her arm. He asked her to make a fist, then wrapped his hand around it, pushing it back so she couldn't stab him with an accidental extraction of her claws while he administered the shot to her vein. The bleeding from the shot didn't stop immediately as it should have. Hank put a cotton ball over the slowly leaking hole and bent her arm to hold it in place.

"I'm sorry, my dear, truly I am." Hank said sadly. "Get something in your system if you can. If you can't handle food, we'll have to resort to more aggressive measures. Otherwise, you'll need another shot in a day or so." He patted her shoulder as he stood, looking to Logan now. "Make sure she eats something, but start her light." Logan nodded, stroking her hair as she leaned on him. Jean sat down apologizing for her moment of thoughtlessness when she tried to simply send her to the lab, and telling her again that she'd be more than happy to help her sleep tonight. Logan watched as they left, looking down at her after a bit.

"Sleepin troubles?" he asked, kissing the top of her head.

"And the dark, alone." she quietly admitted. His arm slid a little lower, pulling her closer.

"Don't have to be alone."he mumbled into her hair. She shook her head in response. He frowned, turning his head to look at her face.

"Hey." he said, his finger under her chin, tilting her head up "You can talk to me too, you know." The want in his voice was clear. She decided to go on ahead and try to open up to him too. She felt better after talking to Storm and she hardly knew her. She knew Logan loved her – or did once. She opened her mouth, and shut it, taking a deep slow breath trying to find the right words.

"I feel better with you but – God, I feel like a jackass. *sigh* I panic when I wake up with you in the dark. I don't know if it's the weight of your arm on me, or your breath on my neck … but I panic. I'm sorry." She explained quickly, nearly wincing as she finished. He just kissed her gently. The corner of his mouth tightening as he thought out what to say.

"Why don't you give it another shot – whenever you're ready. I'd like you to try tonight, but if you're unsure-" he said as she pulled away from him.

"I want to hold you when I fall asleep." She said suddenly, cutting him off. "I don't want you to spoon me, like we _did,_ I want to hold you." Logan looked stunned for a moment then agreed quickly. He stood up and started pulling things from the cabinet and refrigerator, cooking up something that smelled positively mouthwatering. She watched him as he cooked, finally bringing her a plate, setting it down in front of her, nodding at her to try it. She looked at it doubtfully, she never was a fan of eggs, but – a tiny bite into it, she loved it. She didn't eat much, but he seemed satisfied that she'd had any at all. They headed upstairs, K stopping by to talk to Jean before going to her room to change. She sat on her bed in her PJ's, staring at her feet. Was she doing the right thing, trying so quickly? The raging doubt that had been ruling her brain backed down just a bit when her inner voice nearly shouted _what the hell are you waiting for?_

She stopped in front of his door, raising her hand to knock, then thinking better of it, just let herself in. Logan was, as always, shirtless in boxers, waiting for her in bed, blankets thrown back.

"How d'you want to do this?" he asked, sliding down a bit more as she approached him. She didn't say a word, just crawled over him, leaving one leg across his as she laid down next to him, using his arm as a pillow and resting her hand over his heart. His pulse sped up as she snuggled into him, she smiled at him earnestly when she heard it.

"Can't help it, darlin'. You just have that effect." he said with a smirk, as he pulled the blanket up over them. She slid up and kissed him sweetly, wishing him a goodnight. He smiled, putting his free arm up over his head, waiting for her to either fall asleep or panic. She yawned, and readjusted herself slightly, his scent filling her senses, making her relax at his touch. For the first time in weeks, she suddenly felt safe. Before she knew it, she was asleep.

Logan was shocked that she passed out so quickly. He listened to her breathe, slow and even. She was so worn that she didn't move but for a twitch of her fingers every now and again, reminding him of seeing that same twitch as she floated in the tank before – No.

He took a deep breath, trying to get the image out of his head. A tiny moan escaped her lips, drawing his attention to her. He rumbled an 'easy, darlin' and she immediately relaxed again, absently running her fingers in his chest hair. He smiled at her as she slept. Looks like they might have a shot after all. He stayed up all night, watching over her, making sure she got the rest she so desperately needed. He was tired, but having her there with him made him feel better too. He watched the sun rise, and just enjoyed the feel of her against him. When she finally did wake up, she stretched against him, sliding up to kiss him as he slid his hands across her back.

"You didn't sleep at all last night did you?" she asked, as she propped herself up. He smirked and shook his head.

"Wasn't that important to me." He replied, not ready to admit yet how much he enjoyed just holding her as she slept. She sat up next to him, trying to show some modesty as she tucked a loose tendril of hair behind her ear. She looked across the room to the clock on his dresser, it was getting late. She looked back to him, catching him smiling serenely at her.

"What?" she asked, oblivious. He just shook his head.

"You're beautiful in the morning sun. You just – glow." he said, his hand resting on her hip. She blushed a little then biting her lip decided to follow her instincts. She locked eyes with him, a determined look on her face. He just smiled wider. In one smooth move she slid up to kiss him, straddling him, running her fingers through his hair. Shocked, he gently placed his hands on her hips as she deepened their kiss. When she finished he was breathless, and ready for more.

"Wow." he whispered, sliding his hand up the back of her shirt. She smiled genuinely at him.

"Yeah, wow." she said quietly. "Thank you. For watching over me last night. But, if this is going to work, then eventually, you'll need to sleep too." she told him, smiling as one of his hands slipped around to the front, caressing her breast while he smirked at her.

"I'll need a little more time for that, stud." she said, a smile in her voice for the first time since they'd returned.

"I'm waitin, darlin'. Just gotta say the word." he replied with a growl, as she leaned in for another kiss.

"I want to, _really_, I do – just let me get a little stronger. I wear down too easy right now." he groaned as she sat back on his lap, smiling down at him.

"Well then." he said, rubbing her thighs "Guess we better work on gettin' some food in you." He made her breakfast, and halfway through, Hank made one of his rare appearances outside of his lab.

"Good to see you eating something, K." Hank said, watching her over his half moon spectacles as he took a sip of coffee. "Your color is already improving."

"Nah, it's just the morning sun, right, Logan?" she teased, making him swallow wrong, smirking as he coughed. Hank simply shook his head, ignoring their private joke, though he kind of wished he knew what it was to make Logan lose his tightly controlled composure. Logan wanted to glare at her, but ended up laughing before he leaned over the table and kissed her calling her a tease.

Scott was walking around outside with a dark haired, well dressed man. He looked a little more uptight than usual and the dark haired man was just shaking his head, agreeing with whatever Scott said, occasionally pointing at something and making his own suggestions.

"Logan, what's Scott doing?" she asked, curious as to what was going on.

"Finally takin' my advice. Been after him for years to upgrade the damn security around here. We got all this high-tech alien crap that works fine for every day weirdos, but we tend to draw high caliber weirdos. That jackass with him is Tony Stark. The man has a way with weaponry."Logan said, sitting back down with a fresh cup of coffee. K just watched them a moment, narrowing her eyes as Stark smiled at her. Logan saw it and laughed.

"Don't have to listen to me, sweetheart. Him and I have had a few disagreements." he said, smiling at her.

"It's not that. I don't like his look. He's got that 'thinks he knows everything' look to him. Smug. Makes me want to hit him." She said as Logan took her hand.

"Darlin, keep talking like that and I'm going to have to marry you." he teased, kissing her hand as he stood to leave. She rolled her eyes at him and stared at her coffee, enjoying the warmth in her hands as he walked away.

Before long, Scott and Stark came in, a cold wind following them as they stepped into the kitchen. Stark was watching K as Scott handed him a cup of coffee.

"OK, I know everyone here. But I don't know her." he said to Scott, not taking his eyes off her, even as she finally looked up at him. "Introduce me, Scotty." Stark said putting on his best charm for her. Scott raised an eyebrow, shaking his head as Stark cut a path to K, taking Logan's vacated seat.

"Tony, this is K. She's with Logan." Scott said, taking a sip. Tonys' eyebrows flew up.

"Logan? OUR Logan? No. No, that's not possible. He doesn't even _have _sex does he?" Tony rattled off, K's brow wrinkling. "What do you see in him anyhow? Is it the hair? It's the hair isn't it." She smiled a little in spite of herself. "Not the hair. OK. Well, you must like the broody angry type then, right? No? Hmm. Gotta be the claws then, right? You like a guy packing hidden weapons." That got her attention. Her smile fell. For the first time since they'd returned, she unsheathed her claws in front of someone other than Logan, letting the bright sunlight reflect on the little flecks of blood clinging to them.

"Yeah, that's it." She said, "must be that." she deadpanned, retracting them quickly and staring down Stark as his mouth hung open.

"Might wanna close that, honey, you'll catch flies." she said as she got up and made her way to the greenhouse. Scott even took a moment before he just smiled watching her leave.

"Good God, man." Tony said staring at her as she left. "Smoking' hot wolverine girl? I thought you guys already had one of those."

"We do. This one isn't a clone though. They hit it off right away. You should see him. He's actually been in a great mood since she showed up. For him, anyhow." Scott told him as Tony shook his head again.

"Well, yeah. Who wouldn't be, waking up to a girl with razor sharp claws. Jesus." He laughed. "I have so much material to work with here. Just. Wow." Scott rolled his eyes, and prompted Tony to get back to work as the two of them went to meet with Forge to get started.

"She's actually a good part of the reason we need more security." Scott explained as they walked. "The breach we had resulted in her new shiny claws, among other things."

"That's new? They didn't do the whole ..." Tony abandoned the question as Scott nodded his head. "Ouch. Yeah, we can't have people like that breaking in and snatching up kids, can we? How old is the little short and hot girl anyhow?" He asked, getting him to crack a smile.

...

K was helping Storm in her greenhouse today. The women talked as they worked, quickly clearing out the dead and dying plants and readying her favorites in the smaller heated section of the hot house. Ororo was quizzing K on some of the little details of her encounter with Sabretooth. K answered Ororo's questions, finding it easier to do well, anything the more she let another person know about it what had happened.

They finished up and headed back to the kitchen for a late lunch. When they got there, they both were shocked. Most of the men of the mansion were there with Stark, all of them putting in their two cents as they finalized the plans for the new security. Ororo and K washed their hands carefully, and Ro quickly made a salad and disappeared. K opened a bottle of water and found an open area to look at the plans between Forge and Charles. No one it seemed wanted to stand too close to the animated Native American. As the men squabbled and pointed out flaws to each others logic, K took it all in, her arms crossing her chest, as she leaned in, reading the schematics. Forge bumped her accidentally, and in apology, put his arm around her, resting his hand on her shoulder, to keep from hitting her again. She naturally leaned a little closer to him as he continued to talk. Logan watched the scene carefully from across the table. She let them argue until she found what she was looking for. A dead spot they had missed. She put her hand on Forge's tapping him to get his attention.

"I know you boys _probably_ have this all wrapped up with a bow, but I do have one little question." She started, the table falling silent at her quiet, high voice. "What do you have going on here?" she asked finally pointing out a spot near the back side of the mansion.

"That's covered by the laser sensors, sweetie." Tony said, quickly waving his hand over the general area. She turned her head to glare at him.

"No that's not what I mean." she said firmly. "This is a dead spot. Look at it closer." He chuckled.

"I don't think so. I did the math on it, and I'm never wrong on my math." he told her resting his hands on the schematic and leaning over it.

"Well, you're wrong this time." She told him, calmly taking a sip of water as Forge's hand slipped from her shoulder and he leaned forward to look at it closer. Tony opened his mouth to argue when Forge laughed.

"She's right Tony. Look. The sensors are here – and here. You didn't account for the line of trees over here." He said, smiling up at the genius. Tony looked ruffled as he glared at her, then took a closer look.

"I'll be damned. Look at that." he said, looking up to her, who to his shock was not smirking or gloating in any way.

"You see anything else wrong here, princess?" he asked as her eyes met his. She looked to Logan who was smirking at her, getting a laugh at Stark's expense. She began to look at it closely, finding two more mistakes with some proposed defensive systems placement. She was no genius, but she did have an eye for spatial relations, and as it turned out, weaponry.

Tony was entranced. It wasn't every day you find a girl that can rattle off ballistics, bullet expansion and trajectory statistics like it's common knowledge. Without hearing the whole argument, she'd unknowingly taken Logan's position on nearly everything, expanding the reasoning behind it very clearly with hard facts that Logan knew, but didn't have the patience to back up. She was old fashioned, and preferred what she called real weaponry over lasers and other pansy assed deterrents. When Stark asked her why she preferred a lead core over a copper bullet, for instance, she accurately drew out the difference in expansion sizes, noting that although the copper would hit like a mack truck, the expansion on the lead core hurt a helluva lot more and made you 'bleed like a sonofabitch'. Logan laughed out loud at that one.

He decided to take her for a bite to eat before she got asked out by the billionaire. He nearly made it too. They were right at the front door when Stark came up and took her hand.

"Hey, just wanna throw this out there, you know- just in case." he said, nodding to Logan "Hey man, no disrespect. But when you get _tired_ of -Hairy-Attitude, give me a call, alright?" She pulled her hand back, with a smile.

"Not gonna happen." She said as Logan placed his hand on the small of her back, guiding her outside.


	14. Recovery

_Author's note - Thank you so much, cew 1088 for your reviews! I hope you enjoy it as things continue. _

After a few days of eating more regularly, K was beginning to look more like herself. The hollow appearance of her face began to reverse itself, and her color improved quickly. Within a day or so her mind started to clear out as well. She began to think more like herself even though she still had pretty severe moments of panic that would crop up on her randomly. She actually cried in relief and shock when she started her period, something that hadn't even occurred to her to think about until she saw the blood. When she pulled herself together, she realized she felt – good. The niggling doubt in her mind when she thought of the rape could be put behind her. It was over. There was nothing now that could pop up and derail her now. She could relax. As soon as that thought entered her mind, she did just that. She just let all the tension she'd been holding on to melt away. He couldn't hurt her again. Now she just had to get over the irrational fears and try to get back to her normal.

She made her way downstairs, her movements becoming more fluid every day as she built up more muscle to handle the extra weight she carried over the next few weeks. She was careful as she began to work out to be sure to do lots of yoga and stretching to keep from looking like a body builder, paired with very little weight training and a lot of running. Her speed and endurance were crap. Jubilee had become her workout partner, helping her with some gymnastics moves to help with her slightly different center of gravity. Jubes was more than thrilled to assist her since very few people at the mansion seemed to value her opinion and K was the first to truly ask for her guidance.

They were on the balance beam, K bending herself backwards in a slow motion backwards cartwheel when the construction crew walked past, Stark at the rear of the group and stopping dead in his tracks as he watched K work to Jubilee's instruction. When she noticed him, she glared as he hastily moved on. Not long after, she decided to call it a day, and was walking toward the elevator as Logan approached from the Danger room, catching his breath and covered in sweat. He looked her up and down before giving a low whistle.

"You doin' alright, darlin'? I'd be happy to help you work out." he leered, slipping his hand on her hip. She smiled and leaned into him, ignoring his wet shirt and wrapping her arms around his neck for a kiss.

"Hmm. Maybe. I might have a workout you can help me with."she purred as his hands slid up her back while they kissed. The couple made their way upstairs, both needing a shower before continuing on with the day. She automatically made to go to her room when Logan pulled her with him to his.

"What are you doing?" she asked with a laugh on her face. "I need a shower and so do you." she said as he pulled her into his room, shutting the door behind him and kissing her again.

"So take one." He said, swatting her on the backside and going to remove his boots. She stopped and watched him a moment. "Don't worry, I won't follow unless you ask me to." he clarified as she finally kicked off her shoes and headed to the bathroom to strip. The water was hot when she looked at her naked self in the mirror. The change to her body was pronounced. Her muscles were sinewy, her form smooth. The only thing that hadn't really changed were her breasts, which she thought still looked like they didn't quite fit her frame. She let her hair down and stepped into the shower, washing quickly knowing that Logan would need a moment to wash up too. Then she stopped mid thought and called for him. He cautiously entered the bathroom a short moment later.

"You need something, sweetheart?" he asked, expecting something simple.

"Yeah, why don't you strip and help me wash up?" she asked peeking at him through the cracked open shower door. "I'm not promising anything, but maybe we can see where it goes?" she said hopefully and he nodded, stripping off what he had left and slipping in with her. She moved out from under the water, giving him a chance to get started rinsing off. When he tipped his face under the water, he was a little surprised when he felt her hands gliding across his shoulders. He turned to look at her and the look on her face was more than enough encouragement for him, but he forced himself to be a gentleman. She stepped into him and slid her hands into his hair, kissing him as he gently caressed her back. They both made a concerted effort to wash properly, slipping in kisses, caresses, and full body contact as they did so, both of them getting a little worked up as they continued. When both were sufficiently cleaned up, they continued on, getting hotter as they did. There was little they had left they could do when she nervously decided to give it a shot in a serious 'what the hell' kind of mind set. She pressed herself into him fully as they kissed when she finally gave him a crystal clear signal, slipping her leg over his hip. He froze and pulled back to look at her.

"Are you sure?" he asked, not sure himself that it was a good idea - worried about her mental healing. She smiled, her heart racing as she nodded, kissing him again, urging him to continue. He weighed his options and switched off the water, handing her a towel as he stepped out.

"Alright, but you're running the show, darlin'." he told her as he toweled off quickly and slipped into bed. She followed suit, climbing onto him as he looked up at her, his hands gliding across her body.

They didn't leave the room for several hours. When they did, both of them were much more relaxed. She'd almost forgotten how good it was with him, how cherished he made her feel while they made an art out of worshipping each other.

Storm was having tea near the fireplace when she spotted the couple grabbing a bite to eat. K's appetite had increased substantially as her healing accelerated and her workout regimen began. She'd gotten back to her normal look with just a bit more muscle added. Ororo smiled watching them. It was good to see them helping each other heal. When they were finished, Logan passionately kissed her, ignoring whatever audience might see them, and making her knees buckle. He whispered something to her that got K blushing before he released her from his grip and she disappeared down the hall.

Logan caught Ororo smiling at him over her tea so he decided to call her on it as he came and sat across from her

"What's up, Ro?" he asked leaning back in his chair. She coyly looked back at him, her smile glowing.

"She's been talking to me, you know." She told him, re-wrapping her long fingers around her mug. Logan just nodded. He did know, but he didn't know what she had to say. Only that it was about Creed, and that she felt she needed to talk to a woman.

"I like her. She has fire to her, but is still quite kindhearted, like someone else I know." she said, watching for his reaction. "I'm glad you are taking a chance with her, Logan. She's been good for you, but I do worry for you." She said, her tone shifting. "You suffered in a different way when the two of you were gone. Are you alright?" She asked as he kicked his feet out.

"Oh, you know me, Ro. I'll be fine." he said, brushing it off like he always did. She nodded, expecting nothing more from him than this. "She's agreed to let me work with her in the danger room again." he told her, Ororo nodding.

"Yes, she's really looking forward to it. She's rebounded so quickly. I keep forgetting she heals so easily." She said, thinking of the day K came to talk to her. Ro knew, as did Jean and the doctors, but neither Logan or K knew how close she was to slipping away from them. Ororo readily agreed to try and befriend the woman out of concern for Logan's well being. She didn't realize how much she'd come to enjoy her company, or accept her fast track relationship with Logan. They seemed so natural together, as if there was very little effort for them to just – be.

They sat together a bit longer, Logan lost in thought on what he was going to do with K. She needed training. She had some, but she needed to refine it.

….

Logan wouldn't let her start her training until nearly a week later. He wanted her to have her endurance back up to what it was before. She'd lost some speed, no matter how hard she tried, she was just a hair slower than before.

Their first session was easy enough, he took her to the gym and asked her to put him on the ground.

"You want me to pin you." K said, doubt in her voice. Logan nodded. He'd had her change, and they both stood in uniforms in the mostly abandoned gym. Jubilee was there to cheer on whoever needed it, as was Chloe, Zoe, and Paige. K was a little uncomfortable with the audience.

"I want you to _try_ to pin me." he clarified, hoping that insulting her would rile her enough to get a good fight from her. She turned to him slowly, hand on her hip, and eyebrow up.

"So you think a cheap shot will goad me? Try harder, hoser." She shot back as they squared off. He smiled – she liked to pick. Neither was moving. She stopped and looked at him, dropping her shoulders. "What do you want me to do? Charge you?"She said, honestly confused on how to attack her lover.

"Yeah, you can't always be waiting to get attacked." he replied as he went into a crouch. She crossed her arms and cocked her hip. She didn't like this. She looked to Jubilee who was waving her to go ahead and hit him. He straightened up. She wasn't going to do this the way he wanted her to.

"I'm trying to help you. You gotta try it my way." He said reasonably as she grumped at him, her lips drawn tight.

"Fine." She said, her eyes narrowing, he barely got in a smirk before she knocked his legs out from under him, dropping him on his ass. He recovered quickly, snatching her feet out from under her and launching himself on top of her, pinning her shoulders.

"Get up." he told her as he held her down. She wiggled and tried to toss him. When that didn't work, she pinched the hell out of his inner thigh and bit his arm hard enough to draw blood. She got out from under him and reversed their position, trying to hold him down at the wrists instead. He smiled and pressed his advantage – her upper body strength was a joke next to his. She pushed on him as hard as she could but he still began to sit up with her trying to keep him down, nearly reversing right back on her. She got up quickly, trying to decide how to approach him when he started giving her help.

"You'll never get an advantage on my upper body. Not like that. Try something else." he coached. She scrunched her face up trying to figure out his meaning. Then he dove at her, pulling her down. He pinned her again, this time by the wrists. She felt a sharp panic that showed on her face for a second before she started thrashing, trying to sit up. When he leaned over her, holding down her top half, she tried to fold herself in half to kick him in the head. He quirked an eyebrow at her and she planted both her feet next to her ass and pushed up from the legs and pelvis to try to toss him. It didn't throw him, but it was just enough to make him off balance and she shifted from under him. He still held her arms.

"Good, now get loose." he told her, the teenagers watching wide eyed. In any of their self defense classes, no one had gotten nearly this far with the volunteers, let alone Logan.

She made for the obvious, and tried to kick him in the balls, but he was waiting for it. He knew she'd do it if she had a clear shot. He blocked her and lunged forward, pulling her hands behind her back and grasping them in one of his. He was now right on top of her, and she had no hands to fight with. His free hand went to her hip, holding her close. He smiled at her and she returned it, laughing a little, feeling very unsure and a little pissed off. She couldn't figure out how to get loose, so she decided she'd do what worked best for her. Deception.

She looked between them, shyly then took a slow step forward waiting for the moment when he relaxed a bit. As soon as his shoulders showed the tiniest drop she pushed forward hard at him, wrapping her teeth around his windpipe. She didn't bite, she just let him know she could. He stopped and quickly let her hands go, raising his in surrender. As soon as she let him loose, he spun her around and pinned her arms to her side, holding her from behind tightly. She fought like hell.

"Didn't you just surrender?" She said, frustrated that she couldn't get him. He avoided her thrashing carefully as she wriggled and stomped at his feet.

"Yeah, but you cheated. You wanna change the rules, I'll cheat too." He said growling in her ear. She froze. He heard her heart skip a beat and her scent changed to one laced with fear. She was starting to panic. He had to defuse the situation before she had a real problem.

"Just relax. You're not stronger. Use your size to your advantage. There's always something you can try." He tried coaching her as she tried to take a deep breath and calm herself as she thought. The fear scent started to fade away and Logan smiled to himself. Crisis averted.

"OK." K said to herself. If she took out his knees, he'd likely fall on her. If she stomped his foot, there was no guarantee he'd let her go. "What are the parameters?" she asked quietly.

"No bloodshed." he replied just as quietly. She wiggled her arms, but his grip on her was iron. She tried both moving into him and away from him with no results. She tried to twist in his arms, nothing. Finally she leaned her head forward, trying to lever her upper body away from him, shaking her head as that didn't work.

"Come on," he said to her "What haven't you tri-" she threw her head back, smashing him in the face. He released her and took a few steps back when she tripped him. He landed on his back and she climbed on him as he started to sit up, wrapping her legs around his neck.

"I'm sorry – I broke the no bloodshed rule. Is this cheating?" she asked. He reached up, grabbing her knees, trying to pull them apart from his neck and head. He couldn't budge her. She wasn't choking him, but she was holding on well enough to get her point across. He started to try to jockey his leg towards her head, but her free hand slid up next to his crotch as she raised an eyebrow at him. He started to laugh, a smile on his bloodied face.

"I give." Logan said, his grip on her knees lightening as his hand slid up her leg. "Really. I give."

She unlocked her ankles and slid her legs apart, letting him go. He just laid back as she sat on his chest, stroking her leg.

"This isn't going to turn into a very advanced sex ed class is it?" Paige asked, in her attempt to break up the pair. Before K could answer Logan beat her to it.

"I have a hard time prying myself from between her legs." He leered up at her as she looked at him. Her mouth actually dropped open. She couldn't believe he'd actually said that in front of those girls.

"I am so going to choke you out." K said, incredulous and reasserting her hold. Logan just grinned.

"You go ahead and wrap your legs around my head anytime, sweetheart." He shot back. She blushed brightly as she released him again and quickly got off him. He chuckled, as he sat up, wiping the blood from his mouth. The girls were loving it. K was slightly mortified as he enjoyed her embarrasment.

"You know, for a guy that just lost, you sure as hell act like you won." she said as he pulled her to him.

"We weren't sparrin' darlin'. That was a lesson and you did fine for your first one." he told her stealing a kiss. "Lets see how you do next time when I'm not coachin' ya."he said, giving her a little pat on the ass. "Danger room tomorrow."


	15. Testing Systems

K barely got half a cup of coffee before Logan took her mug, gave her a kiss and wished her luck before heading up to the booth. She took a deep breath and gathered her nerves before slipping into the danger room for what appeared to be a second take on an evaluation, even if it wasn't being called that. Logan was running the show this time, Scott still feeling guilty on how the last evaluation ended with K nearly bleeding out. She kept her cool as she looked around the bare room which was already shifting into something deeply green yet not calming to her. She looked up when she heard Logan's voice asking if she was ready to start. She was taken back when she realized it wasn't just he and Scott in the booth. Storm was there, as was Jubilee, a tall blonde man she hadn't met before and of all people, Stark. She just assumed that he was there for his own entertainment, and she hoped like hell she didn't end up busting her ass too early on. When she gave the go ahead, Scott told her to start walking as the scenery shifted to a night time city street. She wasn't sure how to proceed, as she wasn't comfortable in a city to begin with.

Her senses were overloaded. The smells of hundreds of people hung in the hot night air. To her it smelled dirty. She rubbed her nose trying to clear it as she walked on, the hum of the streetlights sounded loud to her. With no warning, a man dressed in black head to toe popped out from behind a dumpster, slamming her into a parked car. Logan had told her to do what she needed, but Scott told her not to kill, so when the imaginary creep groped her breast, she popped her claws in his groin, dropping him to the ground. She looked towards the booth a moment.

"Really?" she said, clearly aimed at Logan. The booth was obscured by the hologram, but she knew he was smiling to himself.

"Have it your way." Logan's voice echoed down just before at least a dozen black clad mercenaries materialized out of nowhere, cocking their guns and firing on her. She swore under her breath as she dodged around, taking cover where it looked available, trying to circle around and away from them. She stumbled as a bullet hit her leg, not realizing until now that it was going to be that realistic. She leaned her head back on a car she was hiding behind, when her programming from Department K just took over. She took out the nearest mercenary, holding him in a headlock as she stole his sidearm and shot him in the head, liberating his assault rifle and slipping down an alley to circle around the building. When she made it around she started picking off others as they came into view. When they pinned her down under heavy fire, she waited until she heard one changing magazines to run out towards them, taking several body shots as she cleared the street. Logan turned up the heat.

The streets became flooded with targets. Now it was a crowd of MRD officers and supporters, and she didn't hesitate to empty out her magazines on both before switching her grip on the handgun and pistol whipping those that she managed to land hits on. She started her hand to hand with them when she lost the pistol and held her own for a few minutes, using what little martial arts she knew before the mob simply over took her, Logan killing the program before one of them could run her through with a blade to the heart.

He cleared the scene to a forest, trying to make her more comfortable. She started to sit up, the birds in the program falling silent. Warily she stood up slowly.

In the booth, Stark leaned over Logan's shoulder and threw in his two cents.

"Come on, man. Quit screwing around. Give her something nasty." Stark said as he picked out an attacker for K.

"Tony, that's just wrong." Scott said watching her as what appeared to be Wolverine appeared a few yards away from her.

"You sonofabitch." Logan snapped at him as Scott told him to wait and see how she handled Daken.

She barely saw him as he launched himself at her, snarling, claws out. Shocked, she ducked, not wanting to fight him. This wasn't _her_ Logan though, she realized. He was a hair taller, his build was a little more slim and he had tattoos on his arm. His claws weren't right either. He slashed at her as she moved backwards trying to assess before she reacted, his claws just catching her uniform front, slicing it open across her stomach. She kept dodging as he advanced until she backed into a tree. He flew at her, ready to smash her into the tree bark. She ducked down and pounced back at him using the tree as a launch pad. They hit in mid air, all claws and blood. Daken quickly got the upper hand. He slammed her to the ground by her head his free hand swinging down towards her neck when she stuck him hard just below the ribcage. The false Wolverine froze, his weight falling forward onto her, pinning her. Stark didn't think it looked to be that bad of a hit until the angle of her claws became apparent on the replay. She'd angled them nearly straight up under the breast bone of his ribcage then twisted as far as her wrist would allow. Had it been a real person, she'd have cut his heart out within his chest. When the simulation vanished, she stood up, blood dripping from her nose and ears, and wobbling a bit.

"Sorry. That was my idea. You did well though." Stark admitted to her over the intercom.

"You are begging for her to kick your ass." Scott said to him, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I wouldn't mind going a round or two with her." He replied, elbowing Logan, who began to growl.

"You'll be lucky if I let you walk outta here, Stark." Logan growled out. Tony looked at Logan as if he'd insulted him instead of the other way around.

"I didn't know we were playing softball here. I thought you wanted to push her." Stark said, a little indignant. Logan turned to him, ready to tear him up when K interrupted from the room.

"Are we done, or are you going to give me something to fight down here?" K asked. She sounded pissed off as she caught her breath. The men in the booth all stopped, turning towards her.

"What do you want, darlin' – I'm not sure how far to push you." Logan answered, his brows furrowed. He hadn't planned on going anywhere near this far. She looked to the floor a moment and as she raised her head to look at the booth Jean's mouth dropped and she whispered out a nearly silent _oh no._

"Jean, did you ever finish that simulation for me?" K asked. The booth was dead silent. No one moved.

"What's she talking about?" Stark asked, turning towards Jean. Logan looked sick. Jean blinked rapidly a few times and looked at the back of Logan's head uncertainly.

"Uh, yeah, but I don't think you need to do that one, K. We got all we needed I think." Jean answered, her voice a little shaky. "I was planning on deleting it anyhow." K swiveled her head towards her, eyes narrowed.

"I'm fine. All healed up. See?" she said, turning around her arms out. "If you're done with the evaluation, then clear the booth and Scott can run it for me." she said, confident that someone up there would back her up. Logan stood up and left, Jubilee in his wake, trying to stop him from interrupting her session.

"I don't think that's a good idea, K." Scott said, hoping he could dissuade her. A moment later the door opened with Logan on the other side, still looking sick.

"Come on, you're done." he said, not trying to give her an option. She shook her head as she turned to look at him.

"I haven't been in here an hour yet. You said this would be a long session." She replied. He just shook his head and walked in towards her, grabbing her arm and pulling her with him. She planted her feet and pulled back. He turned to look at her, and she realized he was upset. He dropped her arm as she walked towards him.

"I need to do this." she said very quietly. His eyes met hers, and she saw his hurt there.

"No, you don't." he said, desperate for her to understand that he could never again just stand by to watch helplessly as that nightmare tried to replay itself. They stared at each other a moment and she dipped her head. She understood very clearly his position. He still just watched her, waiting for a real answer. She leaned up and kissed him very tenderly, nodding her head and whispering _OK._ He let out a breath and offered her his hand. She took it and they walked out hand in hand.

"_What_ was that all about?" Stark asked, scanning the room. All of the X-men present looked haunted and guilty for having eavesdropped, albeit accidentally, on their stoic teammate. "What's the simulation?" he asked to the silent room when no one answered his first question.

"Sabretooth." Scott said. Not wanting to expand on his answer. Stark waited a moment before he couldn't hold his tongue any more.

"Sabretooth what- to the first or the second question? What did I miss?" he asked, impatient to hear more.

"Both." Scott said, refusing clarify further. They cleared the room one by one until only Storm remained. She locked the doors to both the booth and the room below before searching the computer for the simulation K had asked for. She was more curious than she cared to share with the others as she read through the parameters of the program. It was a pretty bone chilling read, and she understood why Logan wouldn't want to watch her spar with the monster, especially after what had happened not two months before. However, she also understood why K felt she needed to run the program. She returned to the main screen before leaving, weighing out who was right K or Logan. One thing she had learned however, was that K would sacrifice what she thought was a necessary evil that was essential to her healing process to avoid hurting Logan. She loved him.

When she left the control booth, she went straight to Jean, pulling her aside so she could discuss the matter with her.

"I don't know why you bothered looking at that awful program. We've never had anything like that in a simulation before. I'm deleting it." Jean told her, still a little shaken from how things had ended not 2 hours before.

"You can't, Jean." Ororo told her. "There is more to this than what you originally meant it to be. She has been training. She has more to learn, but she will need to run that program sooner or later. She will need to know that she can stop a monster if she has to."

"But she already did, Storm. He's dead. There's no need for it." She argued. "Besides, Logan plans on deleting it himself the first chance he gets." Ororo frowned.

"I should not have to tell you how everyone's mind needs to process things in their own way. This is one of those times. Mark my words, she will need that program, if nothing else, for her sanity." Ororo argued. Jean bit her lip. She knew Ororo was right. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Alright." Jean said. "I'll rename it. That way I can tell him that the file isn't there. But I'm not comfortable with this, Ro. IF she ever runs this, make sure I know about it. If she backtracks on her progress, I _will_ wipe it from her mind and make sure she never wants to approach it again."

…...

"So, the systems are all in place, and all the preliminary tests are finished. All we need now is a live threat to test it for real." Stark said, sitting back in his chair, looking at Forge, Scott and the blonde man. "So, who's going to be our test dummy."

"I got it." Logan said, walking up to the table, startling the group of men seated. He'd been quiet since K's test ended earlier. He'd left her to clean up and change, feeling guilty about making her stop working. Although she'd gone with him willingly, she was quieter than usual, and hadn't flirted or picked on him since. He'd decided on the spot to delete the program, but now he wasn't sure about that decision. She'd seemed so determined to do it. Not like she had anything to prove to anyone, but something she had to do for herself. He just couldn't bring himself to see her in that situation again. The only thing he wanted to do was fight. A little pain would clear his head.

"We're using live rounds, Logan. You sure you want to do that?" Forge asked. Logan just glared at him.

"Make sure all the kids are in and away from the windows. How soon can it be ready?" he asked.

"Give us an hour." Scott told him. Logan nodded, standing to leave telling him he'd be outside the property by then. Tony himself agreed to do the flying portion. His armor was resistant to pretty much everything and what it wasn't, he had his own defensive armory to handle it.

The students that had begun to trickle back to the school were all gathered and accounted for in the game room. The teachers and staff were keeping watch on them and as K hit the bottom of the stairs she overheard Scott tell someone over a com link that they had 5 minutes before the test started up. Stark was headed to the door nearest the kitchen when he spotted her watching them with a confused look on her face.

"Hey. You want to see the show? We're gonna test the system." Tony asked before he stepped outside. She scrunched her nose up.

"Who's 'we'?" she asked leaning on the counter.

"Oh, didn't he tell you? Your cranky boyfriend and I are going to put it through the paces." He smiled at her. "Wanna give me a little kiss for good luck?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows. She thought he'd lost his mind.

"I can see him testing it, but what are you doing. Really." she asked flatly. Suddenly Tony realized she had no idea who he really was in the world of famous high powered business or superheroes.

"You don't know my superpower then." he said, looking at her sideways.

"Is it being a self absorbed pain in the ass, because, honestly you seem to have the corner market." she said, taking a sip of her water.

"I get it. That's fine. Just remember if I get blown up, I'm going to die knowing that the last pretty girl I talked to didn't even know who I am. You've got to admit - that's kinda harsh." he was laying it on thick.

"Tony, leave her alone. She's not interested." The blonde told him, not even looking up. K nodded to him.

"You should listen to him. He's got some sense." K said, rounding the counter to see what the men had up on their monitor.

"Mind your own business, Rogers. K - Come on, one little one … right there. Please?" he mumbled quietly, hamming it up as he leaned towards her tapping his cheek. She rolled her eyes, cracked a smile and against her better judgment quickly gave him a peck on the cheek, earning her a genuine grin from the smartassed billionaire.

"Now you can die. Congratulations." she said dryly as he stepped outside, arms outstretched with a giant grin. She really did think he was completely insane until his armor started attaching itself to him. She closed her eyes, shaking her head slowly when she realized who he was. She wasn't really up on that kind of thing, having only really seen a few newspapers with the Avengers on the front page in passing while she was on the run. Just before he jetted up into the sky he made a point to pop onto the com link.

"Logan, thought I should be the one to tell you. You owe me twenty bucks. I got her to kiss me. She _did_ tell me to go die, but doesn't matter. Pay up." Stark announced, shooting off to a point just beyond the grounds.

"Scooter, do me a favor and blast Stark outta the air." he growled out getting a laugh from Scott and some smack talk from Tony.

"Shouldn't have done that." Rogers said, looking at her finally, one eyebrow up. She shook her head taking a seat near him.

"I know. I was _hoping_ he'd just shut up." K told him as he smiled at her.

Before the test started, Charles did a thorough scan of the area, double checking that everyone was accounted for before beginning the test. Scott gave the all clear and in a matter of seconds, all hell broke loose outside. Small explosions were happening in the air around Stark as he shot down the anti-air defenses when they approached him. Logan had a tougher run. Lasers, heavy guns and various booby traps were set up around the perimeter, not to mention some of the other more creative options that Stark had suggested or the bizarre land mines that meant to capture an attacker, not blow them up that Forge had created and set out at random. They were harmless when the system was off or on it's normal mode, but any trigger of the perimeter defenses or an alarm armed them automatically. Forge was the only one that knew where they were, so while Logan knew exactly where the guns and lasers and traps were, the mines were a surprise for him.

So far, the only firing going on was in the air. Logan had clearly gone into super sneaky mode, and K would have thought he'd left all together had it not been for the smack talk going on between him and Stark. He lucked out, or found a way to detect the mines, coming within 100 yards of the school before getting too close to one, finding himself pretty well snared, but being who he is, he just cut out of it, triggering the guns in the hidden turrets on the building. It shot him up pretty good before Scott declared it successful and turned it off. Stark landed next to Logan as he stood up, stretching while the bullets were pushed from his wounds.

K walked out to see how he was, a pained look on her face as she watched him wipe the blood off his face. She went right up to him and he took her hands as she reached for his face.

"Really? You kissed him?" He asked, giving her a glare. Her mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide.

"Well, yeah." she started slowly, trying hard to look as guilty as possible. "I mean, a peck on the cheek, I really did it only so he could die, and he didn't even do that right. I feel cheated, really." she tried not to smile at him as he raised an eyebrow.

"You didn't kiss me. Seems like I'm the one that's been cheated." he said, doing his best grump as he leaned in closer.

"At the time, I was only giving away 'please go die' kisses, so, really you should be happy I didn't kiss you."She told him, finally getting a smirk from him, his eyes twinkling.

"What about now?" he asked as he closed the gap, still holding her hands. She smirked at him.

"Well, now I've got plans. I just met a tall blonde guy. Maybe I can pencil you in for something later?" she teased. He released her hands just long enough to grab onto her, pulling her to him the rest of the way one hand at the small of her back, the other the back of her head, kissing her passionately, K's hands resting on his shoulder and one sliding up the side of his face as he made a point of asserting himself, and from Stark's point of view, re-marking his territory.

"Ya still got plans?" he asked with a growl. She made a point to act like she'd think about it before he pinched her ass hard, making her press into him. Before she could answer, Stark cut in.

"Got it. Keep away from her. If you two are going to continue, you really need to get a room. Some of us can't be spanking pretty girls all day." He said, hoping to get a rise out of one of them. She looked over Logan's shoulder as he started to release her.

"You're absolutely right, Tony. We shouldn't do this out here. Come on, Logan, you can spank me upstairs." K said, getting a grin out of Logan as Stark turned around quickly, mumbling something about the order of things in the world being terribly terribly wrong.


	16. Training Days

"You can't put her on a team, Scott." Jean told him. He didn't answer her, but kept reviewing the footage. "I'm serious. Someone _will_ get killed." She said. Scott kept replaying the same spot over and over. It wasn't even anything that looked that interesting. K was leaning on a car, tipping her head backwards while gunfire sounded off rapidly. She'd closed her eyes for a moment and when she opened them, it was like a different person down there. He was trying to figure out what happened. She'd agreed when she entered the room that she wouldn't kill unless necessary, yet here she was, stony faced plugging round after round into the robot's heads without any hesitation or attempt to simply stop them.

"Something's wrong here, Jean." he told her, resetting the clip for the hundredth time. She sighed, sliding closer to him again, leaning on his shoulder as she again watched the new woman on screen. She'd quit watching it long before this point, but decided to humor her husband and watch it one. Last. Time. He zoomed in on K's face as she leaned her head back. As K opened her eyes on the tape, Jean finally saw it. She sat up abruptly, Scott's hand sliding down her back as she did.

"There. I see it now." she said, pausing the tape. "We may be able to fix that. It's the programming, Scott. They brainwashed her, put in some subliminal suggestions, who knows what. But when they did, they did it so she'd kill. I _may_ be able to tweak that." she told him, concentration settling in to her face. "Logan worked through it when he came here, but I don't think she realizes what's happening."

"That's because Logan's training was his real life experiences and took him decades. Hers was just jammed into her brain like she was a computer."Scott reasoned out. She nodded her head in agreement. Scott leaned back and sighed, raising his arms over his head and stretching.

"She'll want to think about it." Jean said "But I think I'll let Logan bring it up."

"She could be one hell of an asset, if we can help her out." Scott said offhandedly. Jean smiled as she turned to her husband.

"You think she's cute." she said, teasing him as he squirmed under her gaze. He rubbed his neck, looking at the ground a moment.

"Does me no good to lie, does it?" he said as Jean started to laugh.

"No. Not to me anyhow." she told him slipping onto his lap and kissing him. He made to stop her then thought better of it, instead going with her lead, as she telekinetically locked the door of the war room.

…...

Ororo found K in the barn. She'd taken to making it her job to care for the animals since she'd started to get her strength back. Right now, she had a large coppery mare in the cross ties, brushing out her mane.

"The horses seem to like you." Ro said as she slipped in the barn, closing out the cold wind behind her. K smiled at her weakly in greeting. The barn had become where she would hide when she needed time to herself when she was down.

"They really needed brushing out. Do you think I'd get in trouble if I took one out for a ride?" she asked her as Ro made her way around the other side of the horse, brushing out the horses' growing coat.

"You don't need to ask, K. Only the students need supervision with them." Ro told her, wondering why she'd suddenly sounded shy. K made an effort to focus on the mane she was nearly done removing tangles from. They worked on the mare in silence for a while, and when K had finished brushing and braiding her tail, she made to put her in a stall. When the latch clicked, Ro tried to change the subject.

"I wanted to talk to you about yesterday, in your evaluation." Ro said, watching K for a reaction. She made none as she pulled out the Roan gelding and tied him. "They didn't want to let you do your program. So I looked at it." K froze a second.

"You think I'm stupid for wanting to run it too, don't you." K said without turning to face her.

"On the contrary, I think it wise. I'd like to help you with it." Ro told her surprising K into turning to face her.

"I thought Logan deleted it." K said looking at Ro in disbelief. Ro shook her head slowly.

"He thinks Jean deleted it. She simply renamed it until such a time that you are ready to delete it. I told her I thought you may need it for your own peace of mind." Ro told her as K's mouth fell open.

"But you know how he feels. He really doesn't want me to run it." K said quietly, still not believing her ears that one of Logan's closer friends here was willing to go behind his back for her benefit? Was that what was happening?

"I know it was torture for him to be forced to watch you while he could do nothing to aide you. I do not believe that he has changed his mind on you learning to defend yourself from someone so much larger and aggressive than you." She told her reasonably. "I just do not think that he can handle watching you in danger without tearing himself apart to be at your side to defend you. He can't help with your training. For now."

"Have you talked to him about this?" K asked, her brushing forgotten. Ororo shook her head slowly 'no'.

"It is something we must do without his consent, which I do not think he will ever give." She said, watching her reaction. "And I think we must start immediately." Ro finished, K's eyebrows raised.

"I can't lie to him. I can't do that to him." K told her seriously. Ro was taken back. She was willing to face him head on rather than deceive him.

"Let me talk to him then." Ro told her. "If that doesn't work, we'll figure out what to do next."

"I don't want him to think that I'm afraid to talk to him. I don't want him thinking I'm trying to manipulate." K said, Ro smiling at the little woman's tenacity.

"But right now," K said, pulling a bridle onto the roan "I need to clear my head. You're welcome to join me, if you'd like." Storm smiled warmly at her.

"Maybe another time. It's too cold for me to ride. I'll watch from here, if you don't mind." She replied as K jumped up from a bucket on the ground, settling herself on it's back and gathering up the reins.

"I probably won't be long." she told her, a twinkle in her eyes. "It's been years since I rode, so I'm sure I'll fall off pretty quickly."

"It may help if you use a saddle, K." Storm smiled to her as K's grin grew.

"Maybe. But this is more fun." she replied as she walked the horse out of the barn and towards the driveway. Halfway there they began to trot, and before long they were flat out running around the estate, dirt flying as they went, K leaning forward urging the horse to go. Storm laughed watching her ride. One of the students she had once likened it to flying. She'd never believed her until she saw K drop the reins and slowly raise her arms up as the horse raced on. She wasn't the only one watching either.

Logan had been working on his Harley, taking a break when he heard the horses' pounding hooves and snorting echoing up to the garage. He lit a cigar and leaned in the open door frame watching as she started off, surprised when she transitioned so quickly to cantering, more so when she urged it to run – and bareback to boot. The horse turned towards the small cross country course Jean had wanted to keep up and his concern grew. Some of those jumps weren't small, and from what he'd seen not easy with a saddle for those that did ride it. He stepped forward when he saw her raise her arms out as the horse pointed at a low jump. They flew over it, looking like K had glued herself to it's back. Keeping her arms out, she continued down the course, taking one larger jump after another, the horse turning and evening out his pace as if he'd done it properly a thousand times. After the last jump, K leaned far forward, her arms around the horse's neck as he panted from his run. She urged him to walk, and did circles and serpentines at a slower and slower walk as he caught his breath she worked him a little more, trying to see what he knew and eventually let him cool down. Logan shook his head. She didn't tell him she was that good. He watched her until she disappeared into the barn again, turning to continue his work. Not long after, He could smell horse sweat as she entered the garage.

"Hey there." She said a big smile on her face. "Need a hand?" she asked, pulling up a creeper seat and sliding up next to him.

"If you want, but you're just gonna get dirty if you stick around." he told her. She bumped his shoulder and pulled the oil pan over with her foot.

"Already got a head start on ya." she told him, pushing the pan under the bike. He looked up and smiled at her as he pulled the filter, letting it empty in the pan.

"Saw you ridin'." he started nonchalantly "You didn't tell me you were that good." She laughed.

"I'm not. I'm a decent hand, but I'm nothing special." she said removing the seat and setting it to the side to access the battery.

"I don't know. I happen to know that horse doesn't like to jump, and you had him doing everything you wanted." He said, watching her out of the corner of his eye.

"He just needs clear cues. Anyone could do that." she said pulling the wires from the terminals. She had lost her smile and was looking more serious now, not realizing that he was watching her.

"You think anyone can do it bareback too?" he asked. She pulled the battery, setting it on the ground and wiping her hands on her jeans.

"You know, you're probably right. I'm just going to get dirty here. I'll leave you alone." she said as she made to stand. Her shift had Logan wondering what had just happened. He put his hand on her thigh, giving her a squeeze.

"Now wait a second. You don't need to run off. What's wrong?" he asked, watching her downcast face.

"Nothing. I just- took a little ride. It was over so I thought I'd help you. Now, I just want to change my jeans and curl up for a while." she told him, not meeting his eyes. He couldn't understand her sudden mood swing.

"Alright. I'll be up in a bit. I'm almost done here." he told her, kissing her temple.

"Take your time." she told him, as he lifted his hand and she stood up, walking slowly into the house. He was still looking in her direction after the door closed behind her when Storm walked into the garage.

"What's going on with her, Ro?" he asked, not bothering to even say hello. "Somethin's wrong."

She barely smiled as she sat down next to him.

"She needs help, Logan. She's depressed. She's still fighting her demons and it seems they are winning more and more frequently." She told him as he stared at the dangling terminals.

"What's it gonna take?" he said quietly.

"She hasn't healed yet. She needs to face that program." she said, her hand lightly resting on his shoulder.

"How, Ro? Jean deleted it, and I won't attack her myself like that. I don't want to wreck what we got going on." he said, his guilt heavy.

"Maybe I can retrieve it somehow." she replied. "I can run it with her, you need not watch." He sighed heavily, staring at the floor, shaking his head.

"No. I need to face it too. I've lost too much sleep over this already." he said "Besides, I might be able to help her learn to fight." Storm smiled, not having expected a reaction like this from him. She left quietly as he finished changing the oil on the bike, topping it off with gas and grabbing the battery to take into the house.

He found K in her room curled up in the window seat watching the snow start to fall outside.

"Hey sweetheart." he said closing the door behind him. "We need to talk." he told her. She sighed leaning her head on the glass, expecting bad news.

"I didn't exactly think things through the other day in the danger room." he said, waiting for her to turn to him. "I was wrong. If you want to gut Creed, I sure as hell can't blame you. You got as much or more of a reason than I do." She turned to him, locking eyes with him.

"Did Storm talk to you?" she asked. He nodded, admitting that he'd been thinking about it since he pulled her from the sim. She turned to face him properly.

"You're alright with me trying to fight him again?" he nodded.

"I need to be there too though. I want to help you if you need it, and when you're ready I need to be able to watch you do it alone." he told her.

She considered it a moment.

"You're sure you're OK with this?" she asked. He shrugged.

"Gotta be done, right?" he said gruffly.

…...

The next morning they began working her on what K considered the 'secret' simulation. Her new schedule was straightforward. Danger room in the morning and Jean trying to rewire her in the afternoon. Jean and Ororo were in the booth and Logan was with her, promising to keep back unless it got too far out of hand, or she asked for his help. He was too tense to stay in the booth, and Jean thought it would help him to heal from it if he was able to jump in if needed. It went … alright. To Jean and Ro's surprise, she didn't wait for him to attack her. She was more than ready to fight, her follow through was something to be worked on though. It took several tries before she got to a point where he didn't have her pinned and bleeding in the first few minutes. Logan looked stressed, but he was keeping to his word. He gave her a few pointers and soon she could hold her own. Things were progressing well until the simulation pinned her in a near exact situation as he had outside the facility. That position was near impossible for her to throw Logan, let alone Creed and when she couldn't move Logan snapped, shredding the robot into too many pieces to count. When the dust settled, he was panting claws out as K looked up at him from the floor, waiting for him to calm down. When his eyes landed on her he started to relax. He straightened up and his claws retracted as he fell to his knees. She reached out to him, resting her hand gently on his thigh, smiling at him. When he turned to look at her he expected her to get angry. Instead she crawled up to him before he could entirely relax, and kissed him back to himself, purring out 'my hero'. When she broke the kiss, he was smiling at her.

"Thought you'd be mad." he said looking at a fragment of the robot laying in front of him.

"No," she said "You jumped in right when I needed you." She leaned up and kissed him again, only stopping when Jean cleared her throat from the booth.

"I think that's enough for one day. Watching him go after her like that is … unsettling." Jean said as Logan helped K to her feet, both of them feeling a little better at how the training was going. The afternoon session was largely uneventful. She spent most of it unaware of what was happening, but was very tired afterward.

The next day K entered the danger room with Logan, expecting the same until Logan gave her a kiss, telling her he wanted to have her approach it differently.

"Wait until he attacks." Logan said, worry on his face as he said it. She was stunned.

"But, I don't have a chance once he gets a hold or me." she said, her voice shaking a little. He nodded.

"That's why we have to practice it. I _know_ you do alright when you know he's coming and you're ready, but he doesn't do that very often. You gotta practice where you need help." He told her. She took a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves. He was right. He stepped back and she waited for Creed to appear. She started to walk, probably not getting 50 feet before he pounced. She got two shots in before he had her pinned hopelessly. Logan's claws came inches from her face as he popped them through Creed's head, ending the first simulation for the day. It continued much like that for the rest of the morning. K was worn out and emotionally drained. Logan called it when during the last sim K couldn't even defend herself as she just fell to the floor as Creed charged her, holding her arm up over her face. When he hit her, he knocked her out cold. Logan was carrying her when she woke up, exhausted. He looked apologetic as he took her upstairs. He took her to his room and began stripping her down, offering her one of his flannels to wear as he put her in bed.

"Why are you being so nice – how badly did I do?" K asked him as she buttoned up the flannel. He pursed his lips, and sat down next to her.

"You did about as well as expected. I'll be reviewing the footage for a few days, trying to see if I can find a way for you to fight back." He told her, as he pulled up the covers on her. "Right now, I'm going to go get you a bite to eat. Sleep. I'll be back soon." He kissed her and slipped out. Leaning against his door for a moment while he gathered his thoughts. He felt terrible. She took that last hit so hard. She'd actually stopped breathing for a minute.

He waited a bit, surprised when Jean brought him some food for K.

"I knew you wouldn't want to leave her. How's she doing?" Jean asked. He shook his head.

"I don't think she knows what happened. She's tired, so I'm going to just keep an eye on her." he replied, thanking her and slipping back in the room. He set the food down on the dresser and stripped down, sliding in next to her, him pulling her up to him, as she slept on. He couldn't sleep. He watched her most of the night. When she woke up the next morning her head was pounding. She rolled onto her back, pressing the heels of her palms into her eyes. Logan quickly got up and closed the curtains, cutting out the sunlight.

"What happened?" she moaned pulling his pillow over her face. He sat next to her, telling her how the session ended. She picked up the pillow to peek at him before turning on her stomach, mortified that she'd let herself get hit that hard. He started rubbing her shoulders, showing her yet another hidden talent as he worked the knots out of her. She was nearly asleep again by the time he finished massaging her.

"Hate to do this to you, but we gotta get up." he told her as she rolled over slowly, his shirt creeping up her legs. She kicked the blanket down and smiled at him sleepily.

"Are you sure we have to get up?" she asked, lazily unbuttoning the shirt she wore. He laid down beside her again, sliding his hand under the now open shirt as he slid on top of her, kissing her collarbone.

"You make it hard to do the right thing, woman." he growled out against her skin. She smiled as she started caressing his shoulders.

"You have a bad influence on me." she replied, squirming under him as he slid his hands down her sides. When he'd worked his way down to her belly button he finally stopped.

"We're gonna be here all day if we don't get up now." he said, his thumb still running over her hip bone. She sat up, propping herself up on her elbows as he looked her in the face, torn between getting her down to hot food and a passive medical exam or just pushing her back into the pillows and having his way with her. She kissed him as he began to go for option number two, sliding off her underwear. Before things could progress however, there was a knock at the door. He snatched up the blanket, covering them both up while Kitty asked when their session was set to start.

"Not using it today, Kitten. Take it if you want it." he told her, trying to convince himself that he should stay in bed. K made no moves one way or the other. When Logan opened his eyes again K was looking back at him with a small smile.

"We're going to have to get up after all." she said as he protested now, sliding her legs apart and slipping between them. He shimmied out of his boxers and had decided the day could wait when Kitty knocked on the door again, Logan flat out ignored her. K was in no shape to respond either as Logan worked her over.

...

Kitty was on strict orders from Hank to get them out of his room. She knocked a third time, biting her lip when there was no answer. She rolled her eyes, and walked back to Hank telling him she couldn't bother him when she knew he had her in there. He told her to return and get K in the kitchen ASAP. Kitty was sick. She knew Logan would be furious if she interrupted. She returned reluctantly and knocked one last time. When there was no answer she opened her mouth to ask for K. Before she could however, Jubilee tapped her on the shoulder and motioned for her to follow her.

"Don't do it." she warned Kitty. "They'll come out when they're done, and you KNOW you don't want to walk in and see them … you know." She said. Kitty agreed, of course.

...

K was a mess. Her hair was a straight up disaster and she now needed a shower badly. Logan refused to leave her alone, so when he stepped out of his room to get her some clothes, he was a little surprised to see Kitty and Jubes.

"Can one of you girls go get K a change of clothes? She's kind of in need." he said, unashamed even though he clearly looked as if she'd put him through the ringer. Jubilee's eyes widened and Kitty smiled as she ran through K's door picking out some things quickly. When she handed them to Logan she was blushing.

"OK, Everything she needs is here – Hank is pacing in the kitchen waiting to check her over. Oh, and one more thing. You know, if you're going to keep doing this, you really need to just move in together. Save you a load of trouble if she has her clothes with yours. She's already in your bed every night." Kitty told him as she crossed her arms across her chest. He mumbled a thanks and nodded, for once not meeting the girls eyes as he returned to his room. The two girls stared at each other, mouths open and giggling. Had they really embarrassed him? For the first time in both their memories, they headed downstairs together, discussing the ramifications of their Wolvie clearly falling for this woman.


	17. Great Minds think Alike

Hank's irritation disappeared when K walked up and pulled a chair out, sitting in front of him away from the table, knees together, back straight and hands resting on her knees, smiling at him.

"Sorry you had to wait." K said quietly as she composed herself, making a motion as though she were smoothing out her jeans "But I will endeavor to cooperate, albeit reluctantly to the best of my abilities." He smiled as he rubbed the bridge of his nose, she was teasing him. That was a good sign. He looked her over, and she barely flinched when he said she'd need to go the lab if she took another hard hit like that again. When he gave her the go ahead to resume training she gave him a kiss on the cheek, making him blush purple.

"For being so patient with me." She said as she stood to get a cup of coffee. As she started to take a sip, Kitty sat down across from her, and Jubilee took the seat next to her. She thought it was odd, but wasn't too concerned until Betsy joined them. Hank watched, wondering what was getting ready to happen, deciding to stick around, hiding his intentions by working on the crossword puzzle. Kitty hadn't seen K much, and most of what she knew about the woman was from what Jubilee, Jean and Storm had told her. She wanted to see how K felt about her father figure.

"So, K." Kitty started as K lifted her eyes to hers, looking rather approachable at the moment. Kitty was fiddling with her coffee mug. "We were curious. What are your intentions with Logan?" she said doing her best to look serious. K's eyes widened, taken off guard by Kitty's question. If she'd had coffee in her mouth she'd have likely choked on it. She cleared her throat and looked into her mug trying to figure out how to answer.

"Uh – I think you'd have to ask him." she said slowly. Not meeting her eyes. K blushed a little feeling uncomfortable as the trio now stared at her open mouthed.

"You mean you don't know." Kitty clarified, her eyes narrowed as she watched K squirm. Kitty was sure the woman was serious about him. Now she wondered if this was just another fast burning affair.

"What do you want from it, K?" Jubilee asked. She was sure K had fallen for him. She didn't want him getting hurt _again. _Betsy watched her for a moment, a smile forming on her lips.

"You girls have it wrong." Betsy said as she lifted her cup to take a sip. "You should be asking him his intentions, not the other way around. She's in love." K's eyes locked on Betsy.

"I don't know that – I don't – we haven't been together for – how would you know that?" She stammered. Kitty and Jubilee both smiled as they watched her flounder. Betsy leveled with her, her perfect eyebrow arched.

"Even if I wasn't a telepath, anyone that's been there can see you're hooked. I just think it's a little sad that you have no plan other than to just give him the reins." She said critically, Kitty and Jubilee watching K as her mouth dropped.

"You know what?" K said her whole demeanor toughening up suddenly "If it's meant to happen, it will. It's not up to me to try to force _anything._ All I know is that I'm going to enjoy whatever this is while I'm able to." she leveled her eyes with Betsy, waiting for an insult or criticism, instead she smiled.

"That sounds precisely like something he would say. " Betsy said, highly amused at K's take on things. "He needs someone that understands him. Looks like you do. It's just that much more tragic that you two are approaching it in the same matter – the blind leading the blind as it were."

Hank had just watched the whole conversation like a tennis match. He cleared his throat and gathered his paper and coffee, pushing his glasses up his nose, he excused himself quietly and disappeared. No one at the table said another word. Kitty regretted bringing it up now that she saw that K didn't seem to be looking at Logan like someone to be used and tossed aside. Jubilee was concerned that K was angry with her now, and that Logan would be soon too. Betsy was trying to think of a way to manipulate the two to get more serious, her rapport with Logan already having clued her in as to how he felt, whether he acknowledged it or not.

...

K was a little irritated and embarrassed that they'd cornered her like that and questioned her as if she had any say. She quickly finished her coffee and headed down to the danger room, this time heading to the booth and sitting with Scott as he ran a class of students through a simple simulation. She sat next to him without saying a word, her arms crossed watching the students as they tried their best, tripping and some screaming as they were accosted by MRD. Scott hadn't taken his eyes off the kids, just muttering a friendly hello as she sat down. When she huffed instead of answered, he figured it best to just leave her be. She continued to watch, her irritation growing as she thought about it. When Scott dismissed the class he turned to her finally.

"I have an open hour. You want to burn off some steam?" he asked, K looking at him like he was up to something. So far her morning had been enough to make her want to injure someone. She decided she'd slap him around if he asked her about Logan but agreed, walking with him down to start the simulation. The only question Scott asked her was if she wanted to change first. He wasn't surprised when she shook her head no.

When they left the room an hour later, Scott was smiling. She definitely worked better pissed off. He wondered if it was a feral thing, laughing to himself a little as the thought crossed his mind. She still hadn't spoken, but was far more relaxed and less angry. As they rode the elevator up, he finally decided to ask.

"So, who got on your bad side this morning?" he asked, repressing a smile. She sighed.

"Kitty, Jubilee and Betsy." she answered.

"AH." he said, understanding now what the trouble was. "They mean well. Don't let them get to you." She leaned back against the wall of the elevator, her hands behind her back.

"I know." she sighed. "They just want me to answer questions I can't answer." The sad tone to her voice had Scott confused.

"You and Logan alright?" he blurted out - she shrugged.

"I think so. I don't know how he handles … whatever this is. I don't know what to even call it." she answered looking at the floor. Now he understood. They were grilling her on where things were headed with him, and she was probably as clueless as Logan was. Unexpectedly, Scott walked to her and gave her a little hug.

"He'll figure it out if he hasn't already. They're asking because he's in deep and everyone can see it. They just want to protect him." She laughed a little.

"You know, I went into the danger room with you having decided that if you tried to talk to me about this I was going to slap you around." She told him as he released her from the hug.

"Good luck with that." he smiled, getting a chuckle from her. She almost made it to her room when Logan caught up with her.

"Where you been hidin' all morning?" Logan asked wrinkling his nose "And why the hell do you smell like Scooter?"

"Danger room – with Scott. He ran a workout with me. He's not a bad guy, you know." she answered as she entered her room, Logan in her wake. He spun her to him and kissed her, his brow furrowed as the kiss ended.

"Jesus, he's all over you. What the hell kinda work out were you doing?" he asked, looking a little strained.

"He said it was some kind of brotherhood? I don't know. Oh, I got a hug too. That's probably what the smell is about. Don't worry about it." she told him taking off her shoes. He looked her over.

"Why weren't you in a uniform?" he asked as she unbuttoned her now dirty, sweaty and bloodied jeans "This wasn't a planned session was it?" She shook her head no and continued to strip, heading for the bathroom. He watched her move, a very nasty bruise on her back just now starting to fade.

"If he's not going to take better care of you, you're not going to work with him." he said, running a finger across her bruise. He relaxed a bit when he leaned in to kiss her on the neck, smelling only his own scent on her skin.

"He wasn't supposed to take care of me." she said stepping into the shower. Logan left her to wash up and waited for her on her bed. He laid there, watching her dry off and slip into some clean clothes. When she was finished, she walked toward the bed, and sidled up next to him as he pulled her tightly to him. She seemed a little down and didn't say a word to him as she drew lazy designs on his chest with her finger.

"Why don't you move into my room with me?" he asked her suddenly. She stopped drawing for a moment then continued again slower without saying a word. He tried to look at her, finally entwining his fingers with hers, and just waited for an answer. The minutes ticked by before she picked up her head to look at him. They stared at each other a moment before she leaned up and kissed him.

"Alright." she said finally. He glowered at her a minute.

"Took you that long to say yes?" he complained as she laid her head down on his shoulder. She shrugged.

"Sorry. I was just thinking it all over." she replied.

"Is it that hard of a decision?" he asked, wondering if he was wrong to ask her.

"No, of course not." she said, confusing him further. She shook her head. "It's been a rough morning, that's all." He kissed her head, trying to figure out what was rough about it. Then he realized what the problem was.

"Who was givin' you a hard time?" he said more than asked, knowing the answer already.

"Forget it." she said. "Not important." He let out a low growl.

"You said you wouldn't shut me out. Who." he said. She felt guilty immediately.

"Kitty, Jubilee and Betsy." she said dejectedly. He knew it would be Kitty and Jubes. Betsy was a surprise though.

"I'll talk to them." he said firmly, irritation clear in his voice.

"Don't you dare." she said, picking her head up to look him in the eye. "Apparently, they're concerned that I'm stealing your virtue." He smirked.

"Stealing my virtue? Sweetheart, that ship sailed a long time ago." he said, smiling. She rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean." she said, setting her head down again. "To them, I'm some evil seductress hell bent on screwing you into submission or something like that. At least, that's what it sounded like they were alluding to." He chuckled.

"I don't think I could fight you off if you were to decide to have your wicked way with me." he teased. She couldn't help but smile into his shirt.

"Oh, sure. You better watch yourself. I might just lure you away to somewhere secluded and force myself on you."He waggled his eyebrows pulling her on top of him and kissing her, whispering 'No, no ... stop, stop. Oh, please don't. No. Don't stop. No.' between kisses as she smiled at him.

"You're so _wrong._" she said, sitting up on him as he leaned back and stroked her legs.

"Let's get you moved." he said as she climbed off him. It was a quick job grabbing the little clothing she had and re-hanging most of it in his closet.

"Anything else?" he asked. She returned to her now mostly vacant room returning with her shampoos and toothbrush. He was saddened that her entire life broke down to two armfuls of clothes and some soap. She smiled at him as she sat down, making a wisecrack about how tough moving was and asking him when they were going to start the Creed simulation again. They agreed to begin in the morning and spend the afternoon practicing self defense.

…...

They got started early, K losing time after time. It didn't matter how hard she arched her back, or tried to twist her hips, once he had he pinned, she was done. She was wearing herself out trying to avoid him, but as she'd said to begin with, once he had a hold of her, she simply couldn't stop him. They continued this for weeks. Logan was beginning to be concerned for her. From where he stood, it looked like she was just torturing herself now. The last time they ran the simulation, she just gave up when he grabbed her, not even trying to fight as he pinned her down. Logan ran in, breaking up the simulation as K just laid there.

"What happened?" he asked, shocked. "Why didn't you fight?" he asked. She calmly stared at the ceiling.

"You can delete the program now. I don't need it anymore." she said quietly. To say he was confused would be an understatement. He sat down next to her, having her pick up her head to set in his lap.

"I've done everything you've told me. I've fought back with every ounce I had. It didn't matter one bit." she said flatly. He watched her, getting worried that a breakdown was eminent.

"K?" he queried, unsure what to make of it. She sat up and kissed him sweetly and softly, a sense of quiet in the air around her.

"I never had a chance to stop him. Even if I had, I never would have been able to do it. I can maim him. I can bleed him out – IF it's a square fight, but an ambush – no. I can finally see that." she said, a little sadness in her voice. "But," she continued "every single time you were involved, you would win. I just need to pray that you're around if I end up with a gigantic raving lunatic jackass intent on raping or killing me."

He leaned in to kiss her, an attempt to reassure her.

"I'll do anything it takes to protect you." he told her. She smiled sadly.

"I know. But, you don't have to." she replied. "You taught me enough that I think I can handle just about everything that comes my way, and what I can't – I'll heal." She stood up and started to walk away. He made to follow her, her quietness starting to get to him. She wasn't exactly peaceful, but more resigned to the facts in front of her. She stopped in the doorway suddenly.

"I'm gonna go clean up." she said quietly, not looking at him. He stopped in his tracks. She wanted to be alone. He was torn up now. She did everything right and still couldn't win unless the bigger guy made a mistake. She refused practice with weapons other than what she had on her naturally. The only saving grace she had was the fact that the second there was an opening, she didn't hesitate to take it. That didn't change the fact that she just wasn't big enough against someone like Creed. Then it hit him. That's why he fixated on her. Her size dictated the fact that no matter what she did, no matter how smart or strong or fast she was, Creed's massive size would always overpower her. If he thought about it, that was the case with most of his victims. He gave her some time to clear her head, finding her asleep in his chair by the window, wrapped in a towel, all curled up on herself.

Gently, he picked her up, her head lolling on her shoulders and letting her towel fall to the floor he put her in bed, covering her up and letting her rest. She woke up hours later in the middle of the night, pulling the flannel sheet up around her as she sat up, alone. She looked around sleepily and wondered where Logan was. He had rarely missed an opportunity in bed with her. She stood up, uneasy and slipped some clothes on before padding silently down the stairs. The house was dark, and no one was around that she could find. It was a little eerie. She was used to someone being awake and around at all times. Her tension began to rise as she made her way through the house. She couldn't find anyone. She decided to go back upstairs and see if she'd missed someone and was over reacting. She tiptoed from door to door down the teachers' wing, hearing no one in any of the rooms. She started to worry and uncharacteristically went into a crouch as she worked her way to the student's wing. All was quiet there. Every student accounted for, but every single teacher was apparently MIA. The hair on the back of her neck stood up. She had to be missing something. She snuck back into Logan's room, and looked around for any clues. Nothing was out of place. She again snuck down the stairs, wary of the dead silence around her. She decided to head down to the lower levels, using the stairs to keep from someone spotting her on the elevator. As she came up on the lab, she saw Hank, working diligently as always. She let out a breath and straightened up. At least he would be able to tell her what was happening. She slipped in unnoticed until she was nearly right next to him.

He dropped the test tube he had in his hand when he realized she was standing there.

"Oh, goodness. You scared the dickens out of me." he told her as he bent to pick up the broken glass.

"Where is everyone?" K asked, sitting on a stool next to him.

"There was a big to do that came up. They are currently out trying to diffuse the situation." K looked alarmed. "Oh, don't fret. This kind of thing usually finds it's natural end quickly. I expect them to be back by dawn." Hank told her, patting her hands. "It would probably be wise to go back to bed and rest. The security system is on and will not disarm until the blackbird returns." She shifted on the stool.

"Would you mind if I kept you company?" she asked him, somewhat creeped out at being the lone person in an entire wing. He looked at her with a bit of shock on his face.

"You would stay here in the lab with me, willingly? Are you feeling alright?" he asked, a little concerned. She shrugged, her eyes downcast. He smiled warmly at her, and began chatting with her about his testing he was working on. Before it was over, she'd generously donated a pint of blood for his tests. As she was rolling down her sleeve, the com link crackled to life. It was noisy and Scott was requesting that Hank have a few beds ready for the injured. They were on their way. She helped him to prepare for whatever they might bring in, even helping to wheel down a pair of gurneys to the hangar with him for those that may need it. When the jet landed, K was breathless. There was a large hole in the fuselage, and scorch marks on the wing. When the hatch popped open, Scott was carrying Kitty down the steps, laying her on the first stretcher and taking her down, shouting to Hank to get Logan out. K's heart jumped. Logan was torn up. Field first aid had him held together, but he wasn't conscious and was still bleeding slowly from somewhere. Hank got him out of the jet and onto a stretcher, telling K to take him to the lab while he attended to the other injured parties. She got him there quickly, Scott leaving Kitty to help her jockey him into the right spot, telling her where to put his monitor leads for his heart and breathing as he finished up with Kitty. She felt helpless. Gambit and Bobby were the other two injured, although they were awake and able to make it in on their own. Hank looked over Logan's injuries, his brow furrowing when he saw that he was still bleeding. Kitty was having trouble breathing making Hank abandon Logan momentarily. As he worked on her, K looked over Logan's injuries. She started to remove the tape they'd used in the field, Scott yelled at her to stop, but she shrugged him off as she cautiously slipped her hands across his torso, her hands now coated in his blood. She popped a claw, cutting off his uniform, too impatient to wait for scissors. She ran her hands up his stomach, finding no injury where the uniform had been shredded. She asked Scott for help, knowing she wasn't strong enough to turn him herself. He helped turn him onto his side, K balancing him as she cut off the rest of his uniform top, searching his side and back until she found a large wound near his spine. Scott told her what had happened and she looked to Hank, who advised her how to find the foreign object that was stopping him from healing.

She took a deep breath and began to slip her hand into the gash on Hank's direction, eyes closed as she tried to feel her way to find the problem, Her fingers just touched something metallic with a ragged edge when Logan woke up. He was in pain from his injury but more so at the hand inside him. She quickly found herself skewered as she wrapped her fingers around the foreign object. He was screaming, clearly in agony and not knowing who he'd just stabbed. It was a good hit too. He'd punctured her diaphragm and both lungs. Breathing was no longer an option for K. As she pulled out the metal that was jammed between his spine and rib cage, he twisted his hand, still not aware of what was going on around him. She dropped the shrapnel to the floor as her knees buckled. His arm went with her, claws caught up on her ribs as he finally blinked off the haze he'd been in just in time to see her blank face as she slid to the floor. Horrified, he retracted his claws and slipped down right after her, cradling her as she tried and failed to gasp for air.

The lab was silent except for the beeping machines. No one approached them right away, partly for fear of Logan's claws, partly from shock. He was reliving one of his worst memories and nightmares. She wasn't reacting beyond staring off blankly before her attempts to breathe simply ceased and she blacked out.

He froze, K in his arms, her body limp. Jean was yelling at him, but he couldn't string together what she was saying. It was Scott trying to pull him away from her that snapped him out of it. He shrugged him off, pressing his ear to her chest then started mouth to mouth.

He was working on adrenaline. The team stared at them in disbelief. All of them, himself included thought he'd killed her, but he knew that if he could keep air in her lungs she'd heal up. He almost stopped when she coughed blood up, but Hank suddenly encouraged him. Soon, she started coughing in earnest, Logan pulled her tightly to him, relief washing over him even as she was hacking up blood.

Kitty was stabilized now, and Logan was numbly allowing Hank to take K from his arms. Celia came in and looked over Logan while he was still in shock. As cold as it was, it was easier to assess him when he wasn't able to focus on what she was doing. Hank was relieved to find that her wounds were already closing up, meaning that most of the internal damage was likely already healed. The amount of blood she was coughing up though was staggering. As soon as he realized she was alright, Logan was allowed to take her out of the lab. She didn't ask any questions, just leaned on him as they slowly walked out, both of them now covered in varying stages of drying blood. As they made their way up the stairs, Chloe happened to be going back to her room from the bathroom and froze when she saw both of them looking so beat up. Logan met eyes with her and she froze, terrified by her blood soaked teacher.

He got them both into their room, and got the water running. The adrenaline was wearing off and exhaustion was beginning to set in. He helped her remain upright as he quickly stripped off her clothes, surprised when she reciprocated in silence. They leaned on each other for balance as they both climbed in under the water, taking turns washing each other. Logan couldn't understand why she was looking so hard at his body as she helped him wash up until he saw the blood under her nails and made the connection as to how and why he'd skewered her. He ran his hand carefully across her torso as the bubbles carried the blood away. When he wrapped a towel around her he was truly surprised when she leaned into him and kissed him.

"I was worried about you." she told him as he stared at her, dumbfounded. He nearly killed her and she was worried about HIM? He couldn't understand it at all.


	18. Reports and Refining

The mission had been partially successful. The team had gone to offer support to the Avengers while they closed down a drug developer that was using mutants as guinea pigs in an effort to cure them. The raid wasn't supposed to happen when it did, but they had to rush it seeing as the developer had been tipped off by a leak within S.H.I.E.L.D.. Kitty, Cap and Wolverine had been on point, leading the way in, and taking the heaviest fire. Kitty had been able to simply phase out allowing the shots intended for her to simply go through her until the very end of their mission when she was hit before she could phase by a falling piece of concrete. She now laid in the med bay with a concussion and some stitches in her scalp. She felt awful when she finally heard how the rest of the evening played out.

Wolverine and Cap had managed to get her out of the building after the rest of the team freed the people they'd been using and removed all their research and documents, Stark made sure to wipe their computers and zombify them to send all new information to their database in Avengers Tower to monitor any further attempts to continue their illegal activities. Logan had just handed Kitty to Cap, and they were headed up the stairs when a most unexpected enemy showed up.

Logan had stopped, not believing what he was smelling. As he turned his head to try to catch a better scent, he hit him. Creed was back. Seeing him was enough of a shock that Logan was taken off guard. He slashed him ruthlessly before Logan popped his claws, their old feud white hot again in an instant. It was the most vicious thing that Cap had ever seen. Stark was taken back. He'd seen Wolverine fight before – but not like this. He couldn't let it continue. In an effort to aid his team mate, Stark targeted Sabretooth, firing on him. It was hard to watch the two men with explosions accenting the bloodshed. When Cyclops got involved too, Sabretooth decided to turn tail and run, but not before stabbing Logan with a ka-bar and snapping the blade off.

Wolverine had stumbled towards the jet, bleeding heavily as he did. The more he tried to be upright, the worse he bled. Cap ended up helping him to the jet before he passed out inside with Cap trying to stop the bleeding.

When he woke up at the med lab, with someone's hand inside his open wound, he couldn't focus on his surroundings and all he could smell was blood. The fluorescent lights caused him to panic, reliving the torture at the labs of Weapon X. It was all instinct from there. He felt his claws sink in and when the hand inside his wound pulled something out – he didn't know if it was part of him or not – he twisted his arm in retaliation, realizing it was a mistake as one of his claws caught on something. His claws didn't catch on anything, except more adamantium. Clarity began to rush to him and when he blinked away the haze, he was sure his heart had stopped. Everything went numb. Tasting her blood when she coughed some up during his attempt to get her breathing was the first thing that broke the numbness. Her kiss later sent him reeling. If he wasn't in love, then both of them had to be crazy. He thought the whole experience over as he drifted off with her curled up with him.

He realized what all of his team mates had to have gone through so many times watching him go to the brink just to come back as if it were not much more than a paper cut. The only thing he wasn't able to do yet was not panic when she appeared mortally wounded. The fact that she was still there, although tired, she was perfectly fine. It was an odd sensation for him, seeing the other side. He knew what he had to do now though.

…...

He woke up to kisses on his neck and her hands drifting down his arm and stomach. He slid a hand into her hair, guiding her up to his face.

"What's wrong?" K asked, wide eyed. Logan just shook his head before returning her affection, pulling her tightly to him and kissing her deeply.

"I could have killed you." He told her, breathless. She shrugged, tipping her head to the side.

"Maybe. But if it was Hank or Celia, they definitely would have been killed. I'm fine – see?" she replied, taking off her shirt. "Everything is where it should be." He flipped her on her back and pinned her down before sliding his hands down her body, leaning in to reverently kiss the spots he'd stabbed her. She slid her hands into his hair, as he laid his head on her stomach, reveling in her just being there.

"Hey, are you alright?" she asked him. She looked concerned when he looked up at her.

"Yeah. I'm great. Couldn't be better." he told her, smiling genuinely. She smiled in return.

"You sure?"she said, still running her hands through his hair until he grabbed her hand and kissed the palm, closing his eyes as he did so. She was beginning to worry about him. This was new. She started to sit up when he pushed her back, kissing her deeply and setting off a chain of events that kept them occupied for a good couple of hours.

….

Charles was concerned. The incident last night was troublesome. Logan had reported that Sabretooth had been killed at the laboratory in Montana, yet all accounts from those involved in the raid said that he indeed was alive, well, and angrier with Logan than ever. He had yet to speak with him and was concerned about his well being after learning about the incident in the med lab. By all accounts, it was an unavoidable occurrence, that could have ended much worse had K not decided to assist Hank in the lab. It was a certainty that Hank would have been the one on the receiving end of Logan's claws rather than K, who was following Hank's instruction at the time. Instruction that Hank admitted skipped over the notion of drugging Logan first. By all accounts, K's reaction to her injury was better than he'd expected. Jean said she was purposely trying to NOT look at Logan's face as he panicked and keep her expression passive. It seemed he'd need to have a talk with K as well. If they were getting as deeply involved as he thought they were then news of Sabretooth's resurrection would mean nothing but trouble for the couple.

…...

K was nearly finished dressing when Logan asked her to join him with Charles. He explained that he had to report what had happened, and he said he'd rather not repeat himself, seeing as some of it involved her. She agreed, not expecting all that his report included.

Charles watched K as Logan revealed the fact that Creed had indeed returned. She went entirely blank on the news. No fear, no panic, just flat. When he finished his side of things from the lab, Charles had to prompt her to answer him when he asked her for her perspective.

"I'm sorry. I was a little lost in thought. Um, yeah. It was accidental. He's fine, I'm fine." K said, clearly not having really heard what Charles had asked.

"K, I was asking if you were going to continue with training on the simulation with Creed. We can probably be sure that he will come after one or both of you at some point." Charles told her.

"Oh. Yeah. I guess so. Sorry." She replied. Logan looked worried as he rubbed her knee.

"Come on, darlin'. Lets go grab a bite. We'll deal with training later." Logan said quietly, nodding to the professor and leading K out. After they had a late breakfast, K slipped away from him to their room. She pulled a bag from the bottom of the closet and was putting some clothes into it when Logan stepped into the room.

"What're you doin' darlin'?" He asked, his voice rough.

"You'd be safer if I wasn't here. He'll do all he can to kill you and all of your friends." She said stuffing in an extra shirt. He took the bag out of her hands and tossed it on the bed.

"What about you? He comes after you, he'll do the same to you. I can't let that happen." he told her, his face stone. She looked just as stoney when she turned to face him.

"If he's going to kill me anyhow, I'd rather you didn't have to see it." she said quietly.

"I'd rather he didn't kill you." he growled out. She broke the stare first, wrapping her arms around herself. He pulled her in, kissing her head.

"I'm not going to lose you now." he mumbled. Her arms found their way around him.

"Let's start training then." she said quietly, her voice shaking.

…...

They integrated her program into another one Scott had prepared. It became a variable that would randomly show in any program that K or Logan was running.

"That way, you will train on all the programs we normally use, hopefully making it so we can add you to the team roster. You won't know when he'll pop up, or if he will. That will make it more realistic, and ready you for any situation that comes along. Alright?" Scott's voice echoed in the metal room. She nodded, and started her first session with Scott at the helm. He was brutal. He ran her full tilt boogie on programs designed for Logan. That entire session had no encounters with Sabretooth. At the end of her time, Logan and Scott were equally impressed by her performance. She could keep up. All the training she did under Logan's direction had her reacting as quickly as him, but she still had to have some fine tuning done on her body count. She was killing almost all of her opponents.

"Why did Jean quit trying on her?" Scott asked Logan as K continued to drop her assailants.

"Wasn't workin'." was all Logan had to say in explanation. "Think Charlie can do it?" Scott, considered the question while watching her eviscerate a mercenary.

"I sure hope so. She'd be more apt for X-Force than the X-Men right now." Scott replied. Then it happened. Sabretooth appeared, roaring at her. She stumbled as she tried to give herself some space, Creed missing her by a fine margin as she managed to stick him in the thigh, cutting his femoral, and painting herself with his blood. She righted herself and turned to face him, meaning to go for his throat. She cut him, but he got a hold of her arm and in a split second had sunk his claws in her throat. The simulation died, but not before K had been wounded severely. Logan was at her side quickly, holding his hands over her wound, giving her a chance to heal. He had tears in his eyes as he watched her. When she felt she was healed, she rested her hand on his arm.

He was shocked when she sat up and asked Scott to start up again. Logan shook his head no, but K stopped him with a kiss.

"I have to be ready. This is how it gets done." she said, her blood still dripping from his hands. He didn't like it, but he knew she was right. He left her alone again as Scott started up a new simulation. They worked until she physically couldn't go any further, then she fueled up with Logan and slept like a rock. After two solid months of every X-man in the mansion running her through the paces in their own styles, and Charles taking an hour a day to work on her they decided as a group that she was as ready as a single person could be. Scott decided to put her in some team exercises now.

"You're going to be part of the team, so you'll have to learn how to work with everyone. Today, you'll be with my team. Simple game of capture the flag. No powers, everyone." Scott said with a grim smile. "And no claws, either of you." he added looking at Logan, who grunted in response. She took her place next to Logan as the rest of their team came to stand with them. It was going to be Scott leading with Beast, Wolverine, Psylocke, Gambit and Rogue against Storm's team with Jean, Colossus, Iceman, Angel, Bishop, Kitty and Nightcrawler.

The fight was intense, K made the last dash for their flag, she'd snatched it up, but ended up getting captured herself by Nightcrawler, the first to break the no powers rule. As soon as he'd gotten her to their side, she fell to the ground dizzy and retching. Kurt immediately felt badly for her and tried to help her, this being his first meeting with her. He lost his sympathy however when she decked him, laying him out cold before making a mad dash for Scott's base. Kitty abandoned her tousle with Gambit and ran towards Kurt, intending to help him as he started to wake up. Groggily, he pointed out his assailant as she ran hard, Colossus on her tail. She was nearly into her team's turf when Bobby iced up the ground in front of her. She fell flat on her face, Colossus on top of her, pinning her down unintentionally. He shook his head and reached for their flag to return to their base when K started fighting back. She kept to the no claws rule, but twisted herself around in ways that neither Scott or Logan had seen. She managed to wiggle herself out of his grip and run again. Logan was so blindsided by her escape he just stood there watching her run until she nearly squeaked when Angel picked her up and took her airborne. She dropped the flag in the process, and Angel set her down gingerly in their 'prisoners' section alongside Gambit, who'd been caught just a few minutes earlier. Their team won, barely by Psylocke snatching up the dropped flag and handing it off to Rogue who flew to their base. Only Scott mentioned the rampant rule breaking.

Looking around the group, K found Logan talking with Piotr. She waited away from them, still not wanting to interrupt anyone's private conversations. She was surprised then when the pair of them walked up to where she was sitting against a tree.

"Pretty impressive moves you had there, darlin'. Didn't think you could get away from Petey like that." Logan commented as he lit up a cigar. Piotr was smiling at her.

"You have a wildcat there, Logan." Piotr said with a grin. K just waited for the ball to drop.

"Pete has agreed to help us." Logan told her. She wrinkled her brow at him.

"With what?" she asked as Kitty came up to the group.

"With your training. Think you can break that pin again?" Logan asked. K just shook her head slowly.

"I don't know how I did it that time." she admitted.

"You'll get it. This was for fun, and you were even smiling when you broke loose." Kitty commented. "I was watching while Kurt was laughing at the two of you. Even he was surprised when you slipped away from Piotr." She wasn't sure what to make of it, but agreed to try.

Now in addition to team trainings, she was learning wrestling from the massive Russian. He would pin her then she would try to get up with his coaching. When that _never_ worked, she'd just start trying to get out in her own fashion. She didn't know what she was doing, but it seemed to be doable when she wasn't scared or nervous. Logan figured that bit out when during a team session in the danger room, the random Creed appeared and lunged straight for her. It took the team off guard as they're used to him going for Logan or one of the telepaths. She'd forgotten about him popping up randomly and it both startled and scared her. The same pin she'd kicked her way out from under Colossus the day before didn't work with Creed. Then Logan realized she was stiffening up. The next time Creed popped up and pinned her, she tried to control her fears before attempting to break his hold. It worked.

…...

After that, training sessions lightened up. There were a few 3 man missions that went out, simple retrievals of young mutants in trouble, but nothing exciting. She was finally starting to relax again when Logan insisted she run the original Creed secret program.

"Why, Logan?" she asked, tired and flustered. "I've run that damn thing a thousand times and now Scott's even got it set up to randomly jump in. WHY." He sighed, leaning against the wall and rubbing his hand across his face.

"He wants to do it again." he said quietly. She took a moment to process, then tipped her head as far back as it would go.

"He won't." she said firmly. He looked at her appraisingly.

"He'll try." he said, hands on his hips. "Will you be ready when he does? What if I'm not around when it happens?" he asked. She sighed and shook her head.

"I don't know. He'll probably wait until you are. He's sick like that."She said, dropping her arms against her side.

"I'm not joking, K. What if he gets a hold of you again?" he demanded. She tipped her head, narrowing her eyes at him before just turning around and walking away from him. "Wait a minute, we're not done talkin' about this." he growled out, grabbing her elbow.

"What he did still bothers you, doesn't it, Logan?" she asked him, heat rising in her voice. He was staring at her, ready to respond when she hit home. "Tell me, is it because he hurt me – and you, or is it because he took what you think is yours." He stared, his temper rising. "Don't lie to me either, Logan. I'll know just as easily as you would." his mouth tightened as they stared at each other.

"He hurt you and I wasn't good enough to stop him. That's what haunts my goddamned dreams. The look on your face when he was raping you, and I couldn't do a fucking thing about it." he answered low and angry. Her shoulders slumped and she took a step towards him. Looking down between them, she reached out and touched his hand, sliding her fingers into his.

"The look on my face." she chuckled humorlessly before locking eyes with him. "That's something. You know, I don't even remember what it felt like. I was so upset you had to watch, I didn't feel it at all until afterward. And then? Then I … I was devastated. Broken goods. And the look on my face is it, huh? Well, that's something, because my nightmares are of it happening all over where I _can _feel it. All of it, and the last time I get to see you is when you have a fucking muzzle on and your face is turning purple with nothing but your bloodshot eyes watching me panic as you die." he stared back at her, his expression void of the anger it held moments ago.

"Ya know, he was only able to do it because like _you_ said yourself – he doesn't fight fair. He had you muzzled and unable to claw him – and don't think that I didn't see him get a nut shot in either. How manly was that of him?" she said, the warmth coming back into her voice as she dropped her gaze to the floor. "When I cut him, it was because he was hurting you. If you weren't there in the equation, I probably would have just given up and let him do what he wanted. I was fighting for you." she suddenly felt small as she realized her internal filter was completely gone now. She'd gone straight to saying it as it enters her mind.

"And," she said softly as she screamed at herself to shut up "he took what was yours." She was blushing furiously now, her ears hot as she felt as though she'd made a total ass of herself, cursing her brain for failing once again to shut her up when she was ahead of the game.

"You mean that, darlin'?" he asked his voice was soft. She pulled the courage up to look him in the eyes. What she found was not what she expected. He looked – hopeful. She nodded her head.

"Every word." she replied, barely over a whisper. In an instant, he was on her, crushing her to him, kissing her desperately. They were lucky they were in their room because they didn't come close to making it to the bed.


	19. The Best Things in Life

***Author's note *** Had to cut this one down to size. Thanks for the continued feedback, it is as always, appreciated.

Jubilee was sitting on the couch with Chloe and Zoe, munching on popcorn and in a generally bad mood. The girls didn't seem to notice. She'd been angry since self defense class two days ago. _Usually_ it was her favorite class because her favorite teacher was running it. However, class went badly ending in her accidentally burning his retinas and being given running with him at 5am for the next week as punishment for breaking the parameters of the exercise.

"Jubes, didn't you hear me?" Chloe asked, looking at her expectantly. Jubes glowered at her, shaking her head. "Aren't you excited about the camping trip?" Chloe asked, grinning.

"Ugh. No. Why would I be?" Jubes replied, still mad. Logan had pushed her hard this morning, to the point she was ready to paff him again just to make him leave her alone. The last thing she wanted to do was spend the weekend after her punishment lifted in the dirty woods with him and his freakin' likeable girlfriend living off nuts and berries for two days.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to ACE this." Zoe said smugly, convinced that K had prepared them thoroughly. Jubilee rolled her eyes.

"You two have no idea what you're in for. Wolvie's running this show, there is no way it's going to be FUN. He's still mad at me."She said, thinking to herself _and I'm not going to get any time with him. _She'd gone to his room to try and apologize, just two hours ago and before she could knock, she could hear his voice, and he wasn't happy. Crap. That meant he wasn't alone, and from the tone she heard, they were having an argument. Fantastic. Foul mood predicted for the week with a high chance of a rotten weekend with him taking it out on them in the woods. Fabulous.

Then Jean came into the game room and posted up a single sheet of paper on the cork board. The girls looked at each other. It wasn't time for any big tests to be posted. They got up and read it before Jean had even cleared the room.

Their survival trip list. They were allowed supplies? Since when? Her eyes passed the list and went to the bottom – Scott was running this trip. What? Wolvie never missed a chance to run this trip. It was his element. Jubilee ran after Jean, calling for her to stop.

"Something wrong, Jubilee?" Jean asked as she turned to look at her.

"Yeah, what gives? Why's Cyke running it this year? That's Wolvies' trip!" she protested, arms crossed. Jean smiled at her.

"I thought you were mad at him." Jean said, laughing to herself that she was angry that the trip she was just projecting about had changed substantially.

"Well, I was." Jubes said, the steam out of her sails. "But this is _his_ trip. He loves this trip." Jean wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Logan has other business this weekend. Just hope that it goes well for him, "I'm sure he'll talk to you about it today."Jean said, trying to reassure her. All it did was confuse her.

…...

The couple was lying on the floor, catching their breath. He'd wrapped himself around her, and she him, their limbs tangled hopelessly with the sheets barely covering them as she stroked his hair. Both their hearts were still racing, a thin veil of sweat covering their bodies. She took a deep breath as she closed her eyes, wondering what he was thinking now that she'd put herself out there for him. She felt like a fool. Her stomach knotted the more that she thought about it. She was not the girl that fell for someone. Certainly not this fast – if ever at all. Of course, she'd HAVE to fall for the one guy with the sterling reputation of NOT getting too involved with anyone.

Suddenly, he started kissing and licking his way up her neck as his hands roamed her body, his passions obviously not fulfilled yet. She tipped her head back giving him easier access when he stopped at her throat, kissing it gently, his hot breath sending shivers down her spine. Blood was rushing her ears and her hearing was getting fuzzy as he worked his magic. He continued to kiss his way up her throat when it happened.

"Marry me." he said quite clearly between kisses. It took a second, but her eyes flew open and she froze, while he continued as if nothing had happened. She thought she was hearing things. But then as she'd brushed the thought from her mind, he said it again as he kissed her behind the ear, working his way down her jawline towards her chin. She shifted in his arms, trying to look at him, but he wouldn't relent, clearly enjoying himself as her mind and heart raced. He nipped at her neck, and said it again. She finally grabbed him by the ears and pulled him off her collarbone to look him in the eyes.

"Did you just -"she started to ask, disbelief on her face as he locked eyes with her as he cut her off.

"Marry me." he said looking her in the eyes. Neither of them moved for a full minute.

"Are you serious?" she whispered. She was sure she'd gone into shock. She couldn't feel anything that wasn't touching him.

"Don't make me ask again." he said his hand slipping to cradle her head just under her ear. Her heart was racing as she nodded.

"Yes." she barely whispered – surprised he'd asked and just as shocked that she'd just agreed. He grinned as he kissed her, pressing her backwards and resuming where he left off.

…...

Logan found Jubilee in the gym, going through her routine on the balance beam. She saw him come in but purposely ignored him. He leaned against the door frame, waiting for her to finish, arms crossed, watching her move seamlessly from one move to the next. When she finally dismounted, sticking her landing perfectly he couldn't help but smile at her. It was the smile that really threw her off.

"What are you so happy about?" she asked bluntly, toweling off the sweat from her workout. She had her suspicions, but still didn't want to picture him ... no. Not going there.

"Well, for one, you're really nailing that program." he told her, uncrossing his arms and walking towards her. She just stared at him with her hands on her hips, waiting for whatever his sick twisted mind had concocted for her next punishment session for taking herself off the survival trip roster.

"Saw you're not going on the trip this weekend." he said. _Yep. _She thought to herself. _Knew it. Here we go, following leadership blah blah._ "So I was hopin' you'd help me out." he said, his eyes twinkling and the smile still on his lips.

"Wait, what." she said suspiciously, not sure at all what he was up to. "What do you need my help for?"

"You trust me?" he asked. She nodded determinedly. "Can you be ready to go in half an hour?" she blinked off her confusion.

"Well, yeah, but where are we going?" She asked. She didn't know what to think when he told her they were going shopping.

…...

When Logan took her into a jewelry store, Jubilee's eyes popped open. She looked at him warily.

"What are we doing here?" she asked him, looking around the place as if a snake was going to pop out and bite her.

"Two things. For one, your birthday present is ready, and you have to make sure I got the size right." her mouth dropped open as he led her to the counter where the sales girl was opening a ring box. He'd bought her a beautiful little sapphire ring that she'd looked at the last time she'd dragged him through the mall. She slipped it on her right hand. It fit perfectly, and she was overwhelmed that he'd remembered. She threw her arms around his neck, hugging him, any anger she had toward him gone. He chuckled as she squeezed him.

"Oh, Wolvie, it's perfect – thank you so much! I can't believe you remembered!" she said, looking at it on her hand, still in disbelief.

"Glad you still like it, kid. I know it's a little early. Now, I need a little help." The shop girl was smiling at them and had two large jewelers boxes now sitting on the display case. Jubilee walked up to the cases warily. When the shop girl opened them up, she gasped.

"You're asking her to marry you?" she whispered. Logan shrugged.

"Kinda already did." he said, watching her face, her mouth dropped. "Just need a ring for her now." Jubes screamed and threw herself at him again, nearly knocking him off balance, hugging him. She was practically hyperventilating.

"You want _me_ to help you? What – why- didn't Kitty want to go? Why didn't you bring K?" she asked in a rush. He just shook his head.

"I didn't ask Kitty, and K doesn't know what I'm up to. I wanted your opinion." he told her. She kissed him on the cheek and he had to redirect her to the rings again.

She poured over the selections, dismissing the most flashy ones right away. Anything that was too high profile was dismissed as well.

"These are pretty, but they'd catch on the pockets of her blue jeans." Jubilee reasoned, narrowing it down eventually to twenty or so before Logan stepped in and made the final choice. Jubilee was over the moon. No one knew about the engagement outside of the three of them. She was buzzing about it as they left the mall, Jubilee pushing for details on how he asked her. She grinned like a cheshire cat when he blushed and refused to tell her. His official story was that he asked her and she said yes. She teased him mercilessly until he threatened to make her go camping with Scott. That got her to quit, though she smiled the rest of the way back.

...

Jubilee trotted up to Jean and K who were having tea with Charles in the dining room, excited to show off her new ring. K complemented her taste and Jubilee couldn't contain herself, giving K a huge hug that stunned her as she looked to Jean and Charles for explanation as to why the teenager suddenly was so affectionate to her.

"OK." K said, standing up slowly. "On that note, I'm off. Thanks for the tea, but I need some air." She headed for the garage, looking for something to do or somewhere to go. Logan was in the garage, putting the battery back on his Harley. He looked up, and greeted her as she longingly looked at the bike.

"You taking it out?" she asked. He nodded as he tightened down the terminals.

"Mid winter thaw, roads are ice free, gotta let her wake up a little." he said as he worked. "You wanna join me?" he asked, she immediately shook her head no.

"No, well – yeah." she said. He stopped and looked up at her.

"Well, which is it?" he asked. She shrugged. He finished putting the seat on and turned the fuel on, swinging his leg over it. He took a breath turned the key, and hit the starter switch. It turned over but didn't catch. He choked it and tried again and on the second try, it roared to life. He opened the garage door as the bike warmed up. He dismounted, giving it time to get good and warmed up before taking it out. He handed her a leather jacket. She slipped it on, looking at the bike as it ran, the throaty rumble making her smile. He leaned in and gave her a kiss. She was smiling when the kiss ended. When the bike was good and warm, he motioned for her to hop on. She looked at him like he was crazy. She shook her head and he leaned in so he wouldn't have to shout.

"Go on. Take her out. You've been wanting to do it since you saw it." he said, smiling as she realized what he was doing. She grinned and kissed him hard. He patted her on the ass when the kiss broke, leaning over her shoulder as she got on telling her the best route for this time of year. She didn't wait to be told twice. She eased out of the garage, noticing the droves of students in the window – it was a winter ritual for the kids to take bets on Logan taking the bike out on days like this. Most of the ice was off the road, the icy was still patches in spots, and rock salt and sand was all over the road. The new and inexperienced would bet on whether or not he'd dump the bike, the leather on his jacket and the paint on the bike being their only measure of if it had happened. They were shocked when they realized it wasn't him on his Harley. As soon as she'd gotten into the driveway, she poured it on, throwing rocks as she went. He smiled watching her. She hesitated just a split second before pulling out onto the road and really letting it open up. He lit a cigar, figuring he'd keep an ear out for her.

...

K was over the moon. It was frigid cold, but her jacket cut the wind down substantially. Her hands were frozen around the grips on the handlebars, but the heat off the engine actually warmed her legs up a little bit. She got to the spot Logan said to turn around, downshifting as she reached it. The bike was handling beautifully. She couldn't help herself as she turned to head back, peeling out as she got back on the road. She pushed it, enjoying the feel of it as it flew along the road. The image of Logan leaning in the garage door, cigar in hand and smiling as she pulled up was a welcome one. She put it in neutral and made to get off when he motioned to just scoot back. She did, pressing herself to him tightly when he got comfortable and smirking when he took off with her, engine screaming as they left the driveway.

When they got back hours later, Scott had been waiting for them, sure that this time Logan had dumped it. The two laughing as they walked in dispeled that until he realized that both of them had scraped up leathers. When he stuck his head in the garage, he saw the damage on the bike.

"What the hell happened?" Scott said, shocked that Logan had actually dropped it.

"Someone distracted me." he growled out.

"It was low speed." K said waving him off as Scott shook his head. He cleared out as Logan pulled her with him to their room. She started peeling off her clothes, Logan shaking his head at the bloodied spots on her jeans. As she stood there, balanced crooked pulling her foot out of her jeans in her underwear he slipped his hands on her waist, helping her to balance. When she stood up, he turned her around to kiss her. He peeled her hands off him as they kissed, slipping the ring he'd bought onto her finger. She pulled her head back, looking at it, shocked.

"What did you- you didn't have to do this." she said, her voice barely there, her hand shaking as she looked back to his face. He was smiling. "You didn't need to do that."

"You like it?" he said quietly, cocking his head to the side. She just nodded numbly until he took her hand in his and kissed her again.

"I don't have anything for you." she said, admiring the ring he'd just given her.

"I get you." he whispered.

"You got ripped off, pal." she laughed. He gave her a quick slap on her butt and let her pull away long enough to clean up, her getting dressed as he washed up. When he walked out he was surprised. She had put on a dress and was slipping a pair of heels on, her hair in an updo and a shimmer of gloss on her lips. He stopped dead in his tracks.

"What's with the dress?" he asked, his eyes resting on her legs as she turned to look at him.

"Jean said to put a dress on. She's insisted on taking me shopping. My wardrobe has been – decreasing since I got it. She said I don't have a thing that looks respectable anymore." She twirled, letting the skirt fly out, showing off a bit more leg. "Looks like she's right. I look ..."

"Beautiful." he finished for her. She stopped, looking at him skeptically.

"Please." she scoffed, turning back to the mirror to criticize herself quickly. He stood behind her and put his hands on her hips, leaning forward and kissing her neck.

"How come I haven't seen you in a dress before?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist. She rested a hand on his arm and leaned into him a little.

"This is all I have left. I trashed all the jeans that I had. That," she said nodding to the shredded blue jeans next to his. "was my last pair. I don't have any other options. It's this or naked, and naked doesn't sound too bad." He kept kissing her, rubbing his cheek on her shoulder as she leaned back.

"You know, I don't have to go anywhere. I'm sure they could grab some new jeans for me." she said, turning to kiss him. Logan smiled and lifted her up, setting her on the dresser and pushing up her dress. He was starting to pull her panties down when Jean knocked.

"Knock it off you two. Come on, we have to get going." Jean said. Logan weighed his options, stroking her hip. Growling he straightened her skirt and stepped back.

"Better run, darlin'. Before I change my mind." he told her. She pouted and hopped down, leaning into him for a kiss. He was clenching his fists in the fabric at the back of her dress when the kiss broke.

"Go. Get more skirts." he growled out. She pecked him on the cheek and he nipped at her as she rushed out the door, Jean rolling her eyes at him. Halfway down the stairs, Jean realized K had actually dressed as requested.

"Are you in heels?" Jean asked, suddenly taking in the details on K. She just gave her an 'mmm hmm' as they hit the bottom of the stairs. Betsy was waiting for them, as was Kitty. Kitty did a double take and Betsy just stopped and looked her over appraisingly, a small smile forming at the corner of her mouth. She blushed at their stares, finally tossing her hands up.

"What is the big freakin' deal here?" she asked, one arm across her waist. "You're all dressed the same as me – only taller and better looking."

"You really look nice – I mean, your legs!" Kitty said, smiling. Jean nodded her head in agreement.

"Yes, you clean up nicely. We just need to work on your makeup." Jean said, pulling out her mascara and stepping forward. K reached up to grab Jean's hand.

"Woah. Now wait just a damn minute. I don't need any makeup, lady." she said, insistent. Betsy reached over and grabbed K's wrist.

"Such a pretty ring – where did it come from I wonder." Betsy said, smiling from ear to ear. Jean nearly dropped her makeup and Kitty pushed Betsy out of the way for a better look.

"Oh my god." Kitty said quietly as K pulled her hand back.

"Alright, knock it off! Convince me to go, or I'm headed back upstairs." K said.

"No you won't." Jean said. "You actually need the clothes and I know for a fact if you go back into that room right now that dress won't be wearable." The color in K's cheeks rose up. Kitty rushed forwards and gave her a hug, smiling.

"I'm so happy for you two!" Kitty said beaming, not wanting to let her go. K awkwardly hugged her back, not sure what to say.

They hurried out, waiting until they were well on their way before quizzing her on details, K being unable or unwilling to answer most of them. They rushed the trip, trying to hurry her back, both for her sake and theirs. The more they pushed for details, the more resistant she got. Kitty got it right away, used to similar reactions from Logan when he decided it wasn't anyone's business. When they got back, Kitty helped her take her bags up – there weren't many, but she wanted an excuse to congratulate Logan. Kitty rushed ahead with the bags, leaving K with Jean and Betsy who had already gotten all of the women in the mansion to gather on their arrival to accost her over her new jewelry and status. Kitty knocked then walked through the door finding Logan fully clothed and on the floor meditating. She dropped her bags near the bed and waited for him to acknowledge her. When he looked her way, she threw herself at him, much like Jubilee had, hugging him as hard as she could and kissing his cheek.

"I really like her, Logan. You two are going to be great together, and I promise I'll babysit." Kitty said much to Logan's amusement. He kissed her forehead and hugged her tightly.

"Don't go makin' any plans, half pint. There's plenty of time for that." he told her. Frustrated, K finally made it in the room. Her hair was starting to come undone from all the hugs and well wishes she'd gotten downstairs. She looked exhausted.

"Goddamn, that was worse than wrestling Colossus." she said to Kitty's laughter. She gave her a quick hug then ran through the door as K started putting things away. She'd gotten almost nothing but wranglers and a wide assortment of tops. She was nearly done when Jean knocked on the door. Unbeknownst to K, she'd gotten two more bags worth of things. Jean talked to her moment as she made to take her shoes off. Logan interrupting only for a second, his arm out, catching her attention.

"Don't. Just – leave 'em on." he rasped out, stalking over to her. She froze, something was different in his eyes. Jean excused herself quickly and stepped outside, leaning on the other side of the door slightly afraid to leave K with him while he was in a borderline feral state. Jean jumped as K screamed, laughing as he threw her on the bed growling. Jean blushed and quickly walked away, not wanting to eavesdrop on them once she knew K was in no real danger.


	20. Horsin' Around

*** Author's note again *** Hi there. Thanks again cew, you made me laugh out loud. Hoping to keep up the pace until this one is done. Thanks for the follow, kristenelizabeth. I appreciate knowing you guys are reading this. Now ... ONWARD.

He got a primal thrill out of taking her just by picking up her skirt and ripping off her panties. The easy access was more than he could pass up when it was his woman in front of him. When it was over, she decided to throw him for a loop. She simply straightened out her dress and fixed her hair before standing up and walking out of the bedroom door. He did a double take as she slipped out ahead of him. She waited for him at the stairs, a little smirk on her lips as he put his hand on her hip, while they walked down the stairs.

"What's the rush, darlin?" he said as they descended. She refused to answer until they sat down with the group. She smiled a little wider and leaned in very close to his ear before whispering so softly only he could hear. _The penalty for shredding my lingere? I'm not wearing any now._ He held his breath as she kissed his ear and leaned back. His eyes slid down her body, trying to remember if she'd put a new pair on.

"Sonofabitch." he growled as she turned her head away from him. He was worthless for conversation that night. He was on edge and most of the team noticed. Jean reached out to K to see if something had happened. She answered her simply. _He's fine. Just trying to teach him a lesson. _K calmly took a drink of water, her movements the direct opposite of his right now. She was relaxed, fluid – sensual even. Then Jean realized what was going on and had to bite her lip to keep from smiling. When they'd all finished, K got up and started to head towards the stairs when Scott came over congratulating the two of them on their engagement, and starting a chain of hugging from every well wisher in the mansion. Everyone took a moment to congratulate them, the men shaking his hand – the women giving him hugs, and everyone giving her a hug. Logan was getting wound up tighter and tighter the closer they got to their room. He could smell every person that had hugged her, and the smell of the other women on him had him irritated. All these scents and he just wanted to smell HER. He held the door like a gentleman and when the door closed, the sound of fabric tearing was audible from the bottom of the stairs, as was K's laughter. When he'd finished with her this time, she was a total disaster. He spooned her, kissing her shoulder, caressing her breasts and stomach.

"That was a dirty trick." he said, finally pulling himself together. She smiled to herself.

"That's what you get." she said, shrugging. He bit her shoulder, growling at her. She turned to face him and bit him back harder and growling lower. He couldn't help but laugh. She was firey alright.

"Fine. Just do me a favor. No more dresses." he said as he slid his hand down her spine. She laughed to herself _a-HA! I got a way to get to him. _

"I will not promise that. No way. Not when I know it'll get a rise from you." she said to him very low, as she ran her hand down his stomach. He settled for a compromise. She wouldn't do it very often if he didn't trash her clothes. It was a hard sell for her once he realized that more dresses just meant they'd be spending a lot more time in bed. By the time it was done, he was encouraging her to trade in her wranglers.

"By all means, please – switch. Get nothing but dresses, or better yet, just don't get anything. Charles will never forgive me when he has to pull my corpse from between yer legs, but I'm game." he teased. The mental image made her smile, and earned her a fresh assault.

…...

The snow had returned in full force. A small blizzard had dumped nearly two feet and the students and Bobby were making the best of it. Charles was watching them from his study, appreciating that these kids were allowed to act as such for a little while longer.

He was also trying to find a place for K in their teaching staff. From the corner of his eye, he saw a lone figure headed towards the barn. K's long braided hair hung down the center of her back as she trudged her way to the horses in her quilted vest. Some of the older boys had tried to offer to shovel a path, but she declined. Watching her fight with the door made Charles wonder if he should send them down anyhow. She disappeared inside, closing the door behind her. His attention went to the children again as he was fairly sure she was simply taking care of the chores there.

It was a simple pleasure he had, watching them. Jean came in bringing him a cup of tea and joined him at the window, laughing at the fun they were having. They were almost done when the barn door opened again, this time much wider than for just K. One of the horses was poking it's nose out the door. Even at this distance, and through the glass Charles could almost hear it snorting at the fresh snow. He wondered what she was up to. The horse seemed reluctant to leave the warmth of the barn, and when it did, it leapt over the snow that was right in front of it. K was on it's back, in a saddle for a change and gathering up a rope, and making large loops in it. Charles wasn't sure what she was up to. She made her way over to the bottom of the sledding hill that some of the younger students were playing on. Many that had been out for a while were slowing down, but hadn't gone in – they still wanted to slide, but they just didn't have the energy. K walked the horse up to one of the smallest kids on the hill, who had given up nearly an hour ago. She tossed the girl the end of the rope and started to walk away, talking over her shoulder to the girl as she climbed on her saucer sled. When the slack was out, the girl leaned back at K's instruction, and K trotted the horse up the hill, giving the child a free ride to the top. Now it all made sense.

She tied the rope to the saddle horn, letting it rest across her hip as she pulled 4 students up at a time. They were enjoying the ride up more than the slide down now. Jean was laughing watching them. Some would lose their grip and fall off the sled, both sled and rider sliding down the hill as the horse powered ski lift went on without them. She kept it up for a while until the horse started to wear, then she gathered up the rope and cooled the horse down before blanketing it well and putting it in the stall with some extra hay.

Charles had always thought that horses were mostly a fair weather activity. In one afternoon, K had shown them that there was something that they could do in winter aside from the positive psychological effect they had on those that spent time in the barn. He decided to ask if she'd like to start giving lessons. Nearly everyone at the institute had watched her ride at one point or another now. There was an unofficial club of students that would watch from the window as she would work, and she'd started going on trail rides with Logan from time to time, usually racing back after dark, both of them laughing. So Charles was surprised when he asked her that evening at dinner when she declined.

"But K, you're really good and the kids have been asking when you'll teach them." Jean said suddenly, clearly unhappy with her answer.

"I'm not that great of a rider, Jean. I can keep on, but that's not enough to teach." she tried to explain herself.

"Bullshit." Logan said looking at his fiancee. "You're a hell of a rider. You can help them – they don't want to go to the olympics, they just want to learn enough to have some fun." K stared at him and he held her gaze, knowing he could talk her into it. "Besides," he continued "they may need it some day."

She thought it over, her hands on her thighs as she composed herself, the two of them staring at each other.

"I don't know how to make it into a course. Basic safety would take just a few lessons, and beginning riding only takes one – the rest is their practice. And what styles?" She turned to Jean. "You have a hunter jumper course and one saddle for that job. The rest are western and english, and only one of them actually fits the horses right. I can't help beginners with no tack." Charles smiled. It wasn't that she wouldn't do it – they didn't have what was needed.

"Easily remedied, K. What can you do for them with the equipment you have?" Charles asked. She thought about it a moment before answering.

"Maybe 4 lessons worth. Basic safety, handling, grooming and ground work. Nothing mounted, and class sizes will have to stay at around 6." She said as Logan took her hand.

"Why six?" Scott asked "We have twelve horses." Apparently it was a question many in the house had.

"Yeah, there are twelve, but only half of them are trained for beginners. The others? Well, let see. There's a high level dressage horse, an off the track race horse, two untrained horses and two that are old enough and cranky enough to be retired – one of which is lame." She rattled off. "Personally – and you sure don't need to take my advice – I'd get rid of the race horse and two older unbroke horses. The oldest ones could possibly be used for the ground lessons, but that's it." Charles smiled wider. She knew exactly what she was doing.

"What about the dressage horse? Which one is that?" Jean asked. She couldn't recall having a dressage horse out there.

"The big bay mare. She's wonderful." K said, her voice softening as she mentioned the mare. Jean was dumbfounded.

"That mare is awful! She runs sideways when you try to get her to turn." Jean replied, shaking her head. K's mouth quirked up at the corners.

"I can show you later, Jean. She's easily the best horse in the barn and yes, if you aren't a dressage rider she can run sideways if you ask for a turn. The cue is a little different." K told her. Jean nodded and half the staff wanted to see the demonstration. In the arena after dinner, K double checked her tack on the big bay mare as the staff got comfortable in the bleachers. Logan gave her a kiss for luck he said.

"Don't need luck tonight." she sighed. "We're going to have a little fun and just straight up show off." she sighed. "Guess you'll see how good I am now, eh?" He smiled and kissed her again before giving her a leg up. The big warmblood danced a bit as K got settled, she patted her on the neck before they rode out in the lit arena. She took position at the center of the arena and made the horse halt, going about it like a freestyle dressage program, only she shouted out what they were doing just before they did it, telling them where to look to see it, and doing the more upper level movements as close to her audience as she could.

Logan watched her with a smile when she transitioned into the most impressive looking movements. Jean was floored when the mare, snorting and drooling tucked her head up on a loose rein and began to do a near perfect piaffe. K smiled as she told them to watch the mare's feet.

"This is my favorite part." she said as the horse started on the tempis, then the half passes. K said that was all the mare did while she let the horse extend out in a good working trot. Jean asked if she could do a pirouette, enjoying the show she was getting.

"I don't know, let's see." K said, setting the mare up to try. The first attempt was very sloppy and only Jean and Charles knew what it should look like. They were surprised when K continued.

"Hold on." K said, letting the horse out again, then returning to a position nearly in the center of the arena. She got her to do it, clicking and talking to her all through it. It wasn't perfect, but even those that didn't know could see what they were working towards. She trotted up to Logan, stopping on the rail.

"Hand me those two whips – the ones with the red ribbons." she told him.

"Two?" he asked as he handed them to her. She just nodded before taking her back around. This time, with the whips as aides, the horse did it much neater, though still not well enough to show. She tried two more times before the horse started to get worse, then she just asked for a couple of half passes from her before hanging it up. When she got back to the group, who had continued to watch her, they were all smiling.

"She'll do better in a double bridle." She said, patting the mare as she dropped her head, snorting.

"You're a trainer." Logan said, arms crossed. She shrugged.

"Once upon a time." she said, blushing.

"And you said you weren't a great rider." Scott said, shaking his head. "We'll put up a sign up sheet and see how many kids you get for your class. Don't be surprised if they keep you busy." K shakily agreed.

"I'll do what I can, but teaching horses is easier than people." she said. Logan nodded.

"The horses listen better." he finished for her.

…...

The sheet was full by noon the next day. Nearly every student had signed up. Scott spent the next afternoon figuring out how to get all the kids in for a riding class. It would end up being a once a week class that she'd have to run 5 days a week and that was after Charles gave her free rein to adjust the horses in the barn so it would be full of suitable mounts for the beginners. She retained the dressage mare for her own to ride and found 4 replacements for the 3 they couldn't use.


	21. Looking Ahead from Behind

She was painfully aware that these kids were much more breakable than her, and she treated them like they were made of glass. She threw in plenty of stories of how she'd been hurt, trying to instill a respect for the animal into them. Because of this, every class had been very careful and the only injuries anyone had suffered were stepped on feet and a few bites.

She came in after a class one day, right behind the kids, when Kitty stopped her.

"We need to talk." Kitty told her, pulling her into a classroom that held nearly all of the women of the mansion. "We want to help with the wedding." Kitty said, smiling at her. K looked at them all blankly.

"Who's getting married?" she asked, searching their faces for an answer. She was met by a sea of disbelief.

"YOU." Jean said, irritated.

"Oh." K said, taken back. "Haven't thought about it." She said, turning to leave only to find her way blocked.

"What are you talking about? Don't you have a date yet?" Storm asked. They were all looking at her like she was insane.

"No. I figured we'd probably just go – do it one of these days." she said, clearly not understanding why these women were all worked up.

"So, you think you're just going to go elope?" Kitty said, her irritation showing. K considered it a moment.

"Well, yeah. Do you think he wants something else?" K asked a horrified expression on her face, looking to Kitty, totally clueless. Jean was amused. Kitty just turned around and made her way to find Logan. He'd straighten this out.

…

"You have to pick a date, Logan!" Kitty shouted, frustrated.

"For what? You gonna give me choices?" he asked her as he buffed out the new paint on the Harley.

"NO. That's the problem. You and K have been engaged for like, 3 months now and neither of you has any idea when the hell you're going to do this. We're going crazy! You can't go get engaged then not get married! You have every woman in the mansion _dying _to get working on this for you." She pleaded with him. "You don't have to do anything, just pick a date – we'll take care of it!" Kitty said. He turned around to watch her a minute. Her pleading was kind of irritating.

"Every woman but K, right?" he asked, eyebrow cocked up. "Go tell her to pick, I'll go along with it." he said, meaning to continue polishing the bike.

"Why do you think I'm in here?! She has no clue!" she shouted, irritation boiling over. Logan sighed and wiped his hands off on a rag before standing up and walking with Kitty back inside. K was in the middle of taking a drink when Logan told her to pick a date. She nearly spit it out.

"Why?" she asked him. Logan's eyes narrowed.

"You wanna marry me or not?" he asked, his dander rising.

"Yeah – but do we need a wedding? I mean - come on. Can't we just elope? We can go this weekend if you're in a rush." K snarked at him. Logan considered it.

"No. I wanna do it right." he said. She sighed as they looked at each other.

"Not big." she said. He shook his head. She stared off to the side a moment, looking out the window.

"This is gonna scare me off, all this prepping and planning." she admitted. He nodded at Kitty to leave.

"Shouldn't scare ya, darlin'. It's supposed to be somethin' to look forward to." he told her. She looked uncomfortable. "Eloping this weekend would work for me though." he told her, smirking as he knew he was testing her. She narrowed her eyes at him.

"Damn Canadian." she mumbled, "Fine." She turned and started to walk away, leaving him standing there. She headed upstairs and climbed on the balcony railing. Logan followed her out, uneasy about her reactions, especially considering how Mariko left him at the altar. He wasn't up for a repeat performance.

"Hey, it didn't matter before, but now I wanna know. Are we doin' this, K?" Logan asked as he began to worry in earnest that she didn't want to do it at all.

"Where's your favorite place in the world, Logan?" she asked, staring off at the treeline. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at her, her face was serious as she watched his reaction. Then he realized she was asking an honest question.

"Probably Alberta, up by the mountains. Why?" he asked

"And aside from having your adopted family around, do you expect anything out of it?" she asked him, again, ignoring his question completely.

"Just you. Makin' it official – means somethin' to me." he replied, curious as to why she was taking this line of questioning.

She was quiet as he leaned on the railing facing her. He could see she was wary.

She let out a deep breath and looked at him seriously.

"Means something to me too. Which brings me to something important." she sighed, staring at the ground below "We can't get married. Can't make it legal. I don't have proof of who I am."

"The legal part isn't what's important, but if it makes you feel any better, we never could make it legal unless we fake some papers - which we can do. My _real name_ is James Howlett. But I've gone by Logan for damn near my whole life. I'm over 130, so even if I could prove who I am, no one would believe it." he told her. She nodded.

"Well, James – nice to meet you. You want me to come clean too?" he smiled at her. "I go by K, but I am Kimimela Skoghem. I'm almost 97 and I cannot tell you how happy I am that I'm not robbing the cradle for once." He outright laughed at her as a smile finally crept onto her face.

"So, you're what - Sioux and some kinda scandinavian?" he asked.

"Yeah, not a real common mix." she admitted.

" And I'm older then - still." he said a smile creeping on his face. She nodded.

"Yes, by a shocking margin, and it's entirely bizzare for me." she replied before he pulled her into his arms, kissing her. She sighed as she resigned herself, wrapping her arms around him.

"No date. Just a time frame." she told him. "And a location. If we miss it this year, we do it next time around. Deal?" He nodded, kissing her forehead.

"When and where, darlin'?" he asked as she finally started to relax into him.

"Your choice. Either late June in your mountains – you pick the spot." he nodded considering her first selection. "Or full color, anywhere in _my_ peninsula or your whole damn maple syrup soaked country." she finished, earning another laugh from him.

"So it boils down to fall colors or wildflowers?" he asked, knowing how hard it was for her to narrow it even that far. She nodded and looked up at him attempting to remain calm but smelling nervous. "I gotta pick?" he asked. She nodded again.

"Then June it is." he told her. She smiled nervously as he kissed her chastely. "You're sure you're OK with that?" he asked as she figeted.

"Yeah, of course. Why?"

"You _sure_ you want to do this." he clarified.

"Yes - wait. Why? you gettin' cold feet there?" she smiled at him

"No _I'm _not, ya sassy little thing." he replied getting a laugh out of her.

"Alright, but hey – those women do not run this. I will not be a barbie doll." she said, a little irritation to her voice. He smiled mischievously and kissed her. He had a surprise in store for her now.

…...

The women of the mansion were irritated with the couple. No date. No solid location, and no permission to do anything. This whole plan had blown up in their face. The pair had decided to not let it become a giant affair, lest it scare off the bride. Now all they could do was wait and see what if anything they'd be allowed to do to help.

…...

Winter was slipping past. The team had very little action and everyone was getting a little pent up. Logan had been out more often assisting the Avengers with Hank, but everyone else was just waiting for some dire need that required them. It was one of the days that Logan and Hank were gone that Scott rounded up the team.

"Alright. This should be a simple extraction. We have a couple of kids that have been on the run for a few weeks now. They've been hard to nail down with Cerebro, but we're going to try it a little different. The professor is going to wait until we're nearby and then let us know where to go once we get close. Gambit, you and Rogue will go one way and K and I will take the other direction." he turned to K. "Normally, I'd have Logan on this, but we need a tracker and he's not around. You up to it?" She just nodded her head once. They suited up quickly and the 4 took off, hours later landing in the desert outside of Amarillo. Charles had gotten them as close as he could pin down and they split into their assigned pairs, Rogue and Gambit doing an aerial search and K leading point on a scent trail that wove into the desert with Cyclops. Their communicators crackled in their ears, Gambit reporting that they had found one of the kids they were searching for, but she was dead. Bound, bloody and badly torn up. Cyclops' was visibly disappointed. He told them to mark her location. He had to decide if they were going to bury her or bring her back for an autopsy first. There wasn't any reason to go to the police as this was an area that was known, historically, as being very anti-mutant.

The wind died down, and Scott squatted down in the scrub bush, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes. Where the hell was the other one? This kid had a traveling companion. Another girl. Was she lost out here or some kind of psycho killer? He replaced his glasses and looked towards K, who had turned her back to him, and was trying to keep an eye open in the overly colorful sunset. The sun was sinking low enough now to make strange shadows in the scrub, and she was getting uneasy.

"Come on, let's go to Rogue and Gambit. Maybe you can pick up a scent trail from there." He finally said as he turned to lead the way to them. When they got to the site, it was a bloodbath. She couldn't really smell more than the scent of purifying blood on the desert sands. The body hadn't started to smell yet, but it would happen fast out here, even this time of year. She started to circle out, looking for a trail. When she found it the hair stood up on the back of her neck. There was indeed a young woman out there somewhere, and she wasn't there willingly. She hesitated a moment before hitting her com to notify Scott of her findings. He'd have to make his decision on the girl later. Keeping her voice as low as she could she told him what was ahead of her.

"Scott, I got your trail. It's Sabretooth. He's here somewhere." she told him, scanning the horizon line and looking into the shadows of the scrub. She waited for Scott, knowing he didn't want her to go ahead alone, and didn't want to leave the missing girl with him to die. When Scott touched her shoulder, she wasn't surprised to see Remy and Rogue right behind him. She led the way slowly, his trail easy to follow, the sounds of a woman crying becoming louder as they closed in. They were going down into a dry creek bed, and she kept her eyes open for rattlesnakes as she navigated them down the slope, slowly releasing her claws as she went, ready to fight. When she spotted them, he had the girl pinned down. She was bleeding badly and he was in the middle of raping her.

She saw red. Her temper flared like she couldn't remember it doing in years and before Scott could stop her or take a shot, she ran right at him. He'd finished with the girl as K began to run, just barely turning his head as she sunk her claws into his neck, slicing down his back cutting into both lungs. He slumped forward, and swung out at her, bashing her in the face, and knocking her to the ground. Scott blasted him as he tried to rise up again. Gambit and Rogue quickly jumped in too. Cards were flying as Creed turned his attention to his attackers. He tore a rock from the ground next to him and threw it, clipping Scott and knocking him out cold. Gambit was keeping out of his range, doing his best to avoid his claws. Rogue checked on Scott as Creed's eyes landed on K. She'd just gotten back on her feet and was ready to try again. His smile made her sick. She wanted nothing more than to jam her claws through his head.

"Looks like the little kitten has figured out how to use her claws." he said, licking his lips as they circled each other. "You don't have to be jealous of her, frail. I got plenty more for you too."

He charged her and she took him off guard when she ran straight for him. He swiped at her and she stabbed his shoulder, cutting through all the bones, and nearly severing his arm. He howled in pain as he wheeled around in time to see her dodging in at him, ramming her claws through his kidney, twisting it as she ran him through. When he grabbed her wrist at his side, she cut his Achilles tendon, dropping him on his ass. He took her with him though. His other arm hadn't healed yet and he couldn't maneuver her to grab her free hand. Shocked, he found he had to keep her at an arms length, or she was going to tear him to pieces. Gambit couldn't get a clear shot with K in the line of fire.

Creed couldn't pull his arm where it needed to be to heal, so he started to swing her like a rag doll, bashing her into the ground, knocking the wind out of her. He tore at her uniform, slashing her across her face and all the way down to her knees. He kneeled on her arms, sitting on her chest. He held his injured arm in place, allowing it to stitch itself together before backhanding her as Gambit renewed his assault. Rogue pulled him off K by his hair, earning a deep set of cuts on her arms. He turned right into K's foot as she made to kick him in the head – instead hitting his face and smashing half the bones in it. He'd managed to grab her foot though and again slammed her like a rag doll, dropping her face down in the dirt. He sunk his claws into her sides, dragging them over her hips as she screamed before he was tearing at her uniform again.

Scott had finally opened his eyes again – K's scream bringing him around. Gambit was going after him with his bo staff, but not making much purchase as Creed threw sand in his eyes. Rogue couldn't use one of her arms properly, a tendon having been cut. Scott was overwhelmed for a second at the disaster in front of him. In a flash, Gambit was bleeding on the ground and Creed had turned his attention back to K, grabbing her foot.

"Ya miss me girl? That was a nasty little trick you pulled. I owe you BIG for that one, but first I think I'd like to take another round outta ya." he growled out as he pulled her towards him, her uniform in tatters. Holding her hands down he slipped his hand into her pants K twisting and bucking trying to get out of his grip when Scott blasted him with all he had. Sabretooth was nowhere to be seen. Scott went to K's aide. She was shaking, and nearly naked. He offered her a hand up and she got to her feet trembling. She immediately went to Gambit as Scott checked on Rogue. She'd been injured deeply but there was little they could do in the field. Scott went with her to the jet, wrapping her wounds quickly before returning to Gambit. The cuts in his abdomen were deep. Even injured though, he couldn't help himself but to flirt with the half naked woman attending to him. She made no comment to his weak attempt to lighten the atmosphere as she gave him some morphine and wrapped him up, Scott helping him to his feet. She carefully walked towards the girl that was back in the dry creek bed, a fair pace from where the battle ended. She was curled up and crying, bleeding from several places. K knelt beside her.

"Is anything broken?" she asked firmly. The girl couldn't speak. K carried her back to the jet, the girl crying heavily as they went. Scott took over getting the girl inside as K closed the hatch for him while the turbines fired up. Gambit generously handed K his trench coat as she secured him for the flight.

"Here, cherie. Best to cover up before we land. Ol' Logan lose it if he know Remy and Scott starin' at his woman half naked." Remy said with a smile. "Though it sure is a nice view." She smirked and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead after sliding on the coat.

"Thanks, Remy." she told him hoarsely as she checked on Rogue, who was hurting badly.

"How's your control, Rogue?" K asked as Rogue bled through her bandages, feeling woozy.

"Alright for now. Why?" she asked as K pulled off her glove and touched her hand. A few moments later, Rouge was healing fast and K was sick in the chair across from her, head between her knees.

They were lucky, catching a fast tailwind, making it back in just over an hour and a half. They unloaded the plane of the injured. Both Remy and the girl would need surgery and Celia and Hank were prepped for them when they landed. As they were attended to K walked down to the elevator, Scott was waiting for her on the main floor, motioning for her to follow him. They sat down in Scott's office as Scott handed her a laptop to record her field report. Instead of questioning her further, he just read over her shoulder as she typed it out, his face looking more grave as the report continued. When she finished, Scott simply read it over quickly. Nodded and thanked her. When she reached the door, he told her to bring her uniform to him. It was to be sent to SHIELD as part of a mountain of evidence stacked against Sabretooth.

When she got into the bedroom, Logan sat up in bed, he'd been passed out cold when she entered. He got up quickly and stopped her before she could get into the bathroom. He had her stand in the middle of the room as he took Gambit's coat off of her. His face fell when he saw the damage to her uniform. Everything from the neckline to her knees was shredded and covered in dry blood, some sand stuck to her here and there. Her breasts were almost entirely bare and the area meant to cover her pelvis was dangling, leaving little if anything to the imagination. Slashes ran down her sides and legs, showing Logan exactly how Creed had tried to strip her shred by shred. His anger starting to rise, he helped her to slip out of the tattered remains, setting them to the side as he realized how hard she must have fought back, and how much damage had gone both ways. He tipped her chin up and kissed her following her into the shower.

…...

The girl they'd brought in wasn't doing well. She had many injuries, some that weren't apparent until she'd been in surgery. A full rape kit was included with K's uniform that Hank took with him to SHIELD when he filed the incident report. She said her name was Daisy and she came from Oklahoma. She and her friend had been running away, having dropped out of school. They'd planned on moving to Las Vegas for an adventure. They hadn't gotten too far when they ran into Creed in a bar. Their fake ID's didn't work for them and Creed offered to buy, but as soon as they were in his car, he threatened them, making Daisy handcuff her friend then gag her before he did the same to her. He took them to the desert, dropping her off in the dry creek bed then dragging the other to where they found her body. Daisy said she'd heard the whole ordeal as Creed tortured her friend. He then came to Daisy, laughing, her friends' blood dripping from his hands. He beat her and raped her repeatedly until K came in swinging. Daisy didn't see the fight more than the first bit, but was sure she was going to die when she heard K screaming. The sight of the little brunette striding up to her half naked and covered in blood shocked her, but she was also thankful that they'd stopped him from continuing on any further.

Daisy was staying in the med bay. She'd needed stitches internally from Creed's assault. She had fractures to her forehead and nose. Since she entered the med bay, she'd lost vision in one of her eyes from a small stroke – a direct result of the beating he gave her. Hank had been sure to give her some medication to prevent her getting pregnant, but Daisy couldn't tell him how long she'd been in the desert with Creed abusing her. Only time will tell if she'd be safe. Before the girl left to go home a few weeks later, she asked to talk to K.

When Daisy saw her enter, Logan at her side, she started to cry. K didn't know what to do as Logan pushed her forward. When she was close enough, Daisy threw her arms around K, crying into her shoulder, thanking her for helping her get away from Creed. She was reluctant to touch the girl until her scent hit K's nose. She got pissed off all over again. She hugged the girl tightly until Daisy released her, wiping her eyes. Logan was alarmed when he saw K's artificial smile. She patted the girl on the knee, and pulled Hank into his office roughly slamming the door behind her, leaving Logan alone with Daisy as it looked like K was reading Hank the riot act. They came out of the office looking grim. K composed herself quickly, smiling as friendly as she could to Daisy wishing her luck as she took Logan's hand on their way out.

"What was that about, darlin?" Logan asked. Her jaw tightened and she kept walking until they were outside with the door closed behind them. He grabbed her arm as she paced, getting more irritated as she walked. "WHAT." he asked, unused to seeing her so angry.

"She's pregnant." K growled out. Logan's face hardened. That poor girl had been through enough. Now she had to deal with this? "I'm goin' back to Texas. I'll find the sonofabitch and set him on fire, whether he's dead or not."She snarled. Logan took her by the shoulders, making her stop and look at him.

"Calm down. He won't be in Texas anymore. If he's alive, he'll show up again. We'll get him." he told her. She breathed deeply, trying to calm down. He stepped into her, nuzzling her neck. She tried to ignore it, but he'd learned that his scent settled her, and before long she'd wrapped her arms around him, the tension easing in her shoulders when he pulled her closer.

"I want him dead. I want him dead, and I want to do it." She said, her anger making her voice sound hard.

"We'll get 'im." he said low, stroking her back and kissing her neck, even as his own anger grew. He'd read the report tomorrow. See what happened, then he'd start hunting the bastard.


	22. High tech hunting

Again, thanks for the review, cew - still working on a good way to work in an Avengers angle. Maybe next story if it doesn't pan out here.

Logan sat leaning forward, his head in his hands leaning on his elbows in the ready room. He was staring down at the keyboard, having just read through the reports on Daisy's extraction run. It was the first time that he could remember Scott being unable to give a full report, having not been conscious for part of the mission. All reports were full, and if they were accurate, then he had to do something about Creed before he and K went head to head again. Her fury made her a more formidable opponent, it seemed, at least from what Gambit and Rogue reported. Scott had probably done the right thing at the end of the conflict when he blasted Creed, but it was clear from K's reaction to Daisy ending up pregnant from Creed's abuse that K wanted his head on a stick. He hadn't moved when Scott walked in, holding an extra cup of coffee. He wordlessly set it down next to Logan.

"What's this for, Scooter?" he said, not lifting his head.

"Thought you could use it. Your fiancee is trying to talk Jean into looking for Creed. She wants to go after him. Today." Scott told him as Logan leaned back stretching wearily in the chair then picking up the coffee.

"She means to kill him, Scott. I don't begrudge her that, but she's gonna get herself killed if she doesn't slow the hell down on this one." Logan said, taking a sip. Scott's mouth tightened.

"So. What are you going to do? I don't think more danger room time is going to help her prepare. She didn't fight the same out there." Scott told him. "Has she ever gone into a session with her claws out to start?" Scott asked. Logan thought about it a second, his eyebrows drawing together.

"Not that I can remember – why?" he asked.

"She did that night. Went down the bank, sliding them out as she went. If it wasn't for the moonlight, I wouldn't have even known. She did it silently." Scott said, Logan grunted. Sneaky woman.

"Don't get on her bad side, Summers." he rasped out, tipping back his mug."And thanks for the coffee." Scott smiled as he sat down to help Logan figure out what to do next.

…...

K was getting frustrated. As far as she was concerned, Jean had flat refused to help. She'd tried to explain that Creed, and she and Logan for that matter, were very hard to find or follow with Cerebro. Something about their minds made it harder to touch, but K didn't understand it. Neither did Jean entirely, so she gave up trying to explain and just gave her a hug, apologizing before she left. K was just about to go upstairs and grab a bag to take off when Remy slowly leaned against the counter next her. She didn't acknowledge him right away – too busy thinking about how to follow a weeks old trail, drumming her fingers on the counter top.

"Anyone tell you dat you awful cute when you mad, Chere?" Gambit asked, grinning as he watched her. She glared at him then walked across the kitchen to put some distance between them.

"Anyone tell you ya smell like you took a bath in that cologne?" she snarled back. He chuckled as he shifted his position.

"Why you wanna go lookin' fer dat kinda trouble?" he said as he hopped up on the counter, wincing a little as he did.

"Why would I want to wait for him to come to me? I'm not leaving this on his terms anymore." She said, crossing her arms across her chest. He dipped his head, understanding finally what she meant. With Logan, it had always been fight and then both he and Creed would retreat to their corners to lick their wounds, only really fighting again when next they crossed paths and almost always with Creed launching the offense. She didn't want to let him be the only one really ready. She wanted him to feel like he was on the defensive for a change.

"You got a temper as bad as Logan. Mebbe worse. But dat makes some sense to dis ol' cajun." Remy said. "Jus' don' see what happened to make you so much more mad dis time round." She didn't answer him, not wanting to divulge Daisy's condition. She just looked more angry as she narrowed her eyes and left the kitchen.

K knew she needed to calm herself down. She walked down to the barn. Brushing out a horse always helped her calm down a little. She pulled out the big bay mare, and began brushing her down. When she was done, she led her out to the arena, asking the mare to bow before she climbed on bareback. She rode her for a bit with just a rope when she decided to slip the halter off too as her anger began to slide onto the back burner in her mind. The horse did wonderfully. K smiled to herself at how well she got along with this mare. She opened the gate and they left the arena, riding out along the lawn. Some of her students had gathered, the girls especially enjoying watching her ride the horse with no saddle or bridle as she passed them by, running through some exercises and lateral movements. Logan had to do a double take as she passed by him smiling, galloping at full speed. They ran, her irritation slipping away in the spring breeze until she finally slowed the horse as they neared the arena again. Logan was sitting on the mounting block talking to Stark. Talk about two different worlds. Breathless, she slipped off the horse as Logan put the halter back on it.

"Wow." Stark said watching them deal with the animal. "Why isn't it in your file?" She looked at him confused.

"What are you talking about now?" she asked.

"Your secondary mutation. It should be in your file." She was visibly confused, as she and Logan looked at each other, brows scrunched up.

"What the hell are you- what secondary mutation?" she asked, exasperated.

"Well, clearly you can command sweaty hairy beasts when you get your legs around them." Her mouth dropped stunned as Stark grinned at her. Before she could gather herself or begin to say anything though, Logan decked him, knocking him out cold.

"Sonofabitch don't know when to shut his damn mouth." Logan grumbled leading the horse back to the barn for her. She smiled hugely as she followed him, leaving Stark in a heap on the ground. She leaned in the door frame of the barn, waiting as Logan finished up, slipping his hands around her waist and kissing her. He was still mad and she thought it was sexy as hell.

"If he's the one helping us, you probably shouldn't have hit him so hard." K said as their foreheads touched.

"I didn't hit him that hard. If he don't want to help, to hell with him. I'm not puttin' up with that bullshit." he growled back. She slid her hands onto his neck and kissed him, pushing herself against his body as he held her, both of them getting a little overheated.

"Just so you know, that was a total turn on. So, you know – file that away." she said as he kissed her again. "But we have work to do, so lets go scrape him off the lawn before someone else has to do it for us." he nipped at her as they broke apart, striding towards the still unconscious billionaire. Logan nudged him with his boot, rousing him. Dazed and moaning he began to sit up. Neither offered him assistance as he pulled himself together.

"Right. Sorry 'bout that. Maybe that was a little over the line." Stark said, wiping the blood from his mouth, not quite meeting either of their eyes. Logan just raised an eyebrow and jerked his head, indicating that they head up to the house.

"Next time I won't pull my punch, Stark." Logan warned him as they made their way to the war room. Tony was shaking his head. That was the hardest hit he'd ever taken when he wasn't in the suit.

…...

"So, the plan is simple. I'm monitoring all of his bank accounts. Last activity was in Utah, yesterday. We found out he has a place in South Dakota, among others. I think that's where he's headed, and when I get the satellite pics to back it up, I'll make sure you guys know." Stark said as he turned from the projected screen floating in front of them. "Logan, you know your _other_ team is behind you on this too. Well, probably not Banner, but the rest of us." He amended. "We don't want you lone-wolfing this." Stark finished. Logan nodded.

"It's not me you gotta worry about this time. It's her." Logan said, pulling K a little tighter to him. Stark blinked, staring at her a moment.

"Previous joke not withstanding, I _have_ read your files. I _get_ wanting revenge for what he did to you, but isn't it smarter to just keep away from him knowing what he wants to do to you? Should he get a hold of you that is." Stark said to her seriously. Her mouth tightened.

"It's not just that. He's doing shit like this in his spare time. It's an entertainment factor for him. I can't let him treat all these anonymous women like chew toys." She said, finding it hard to put into words exactly what she thought. "And, like I said to Le Beau earlier – I'm tired of letting him dictate things. Both of us have looked over our shoulders for too many years, waiting for him to show up and start trouble. I'm tired of waiting." Tony considered her, unmoving as he thought it through.

"Right. Well, you've got a handful of the Avengers ready to go with." he turned to Logan. "When the satellite confirms he's holding still, I'll be here as fast as I can. At least one more Avenger will be going. Not sure who it'll be, but don't leave without us." Logan nodded. Stark turned his attention to K.

"I really am sorry. For earlier. And not because Logan hit me. I was just trying to get a rise out of you." Stark said, almost looking sorry. K just started back at him. A few moments passed in silence.

"Yeah. Won't happen again. Don't hate me." he said as he slipped his sunglasses back on. He shook Logan's hand and let himself out.

…...

Time was passing them all by. Every few days they'd get more information on where Creed was. Utah, Nevada, California – heading up the coast. Still moving, backtracking from time to time. They monitored the news at the same time, looking for missing persons, or vicious assaults. It was pretty quiet. Then it went dead. No more hits for a solid week so far. Where the hell was he anyhow?

K was getting cagey. She knew trouble was brewing, but didn't know what she could do about it.

"He'll turn up. Don't worry. He can't do anything without us knowing right now. He's just working off cash." Jean told her one day. She couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen though.

It was mid morning, a beautiful Saturday. The sun was shining and the dew on the grass was already drying in the morning sun. K had just come in from her morning chores and had sit down next to Jubilee and the girls, who were sleepily shoving cereal into their mouths. Chloe reached over and picked up K's hand, startling her into watching what the girl was up to.

"Your ring is really pretty. You need to clean it though." Chloe said, eyeing the diamonds in the setting. "What is that in the setting anyhow?" she asked, leaning towards K's hand.

"I helped pick it out."Jubilee said, pride evident on her face. K gave her a little smile.

"You helped?" K asked, Jubilee smiled, nodding her head. "Well you did really well. I love it." K told her.

"I narrowed it down, he picked." Jubilee said, taking K's hand from Chloe and looking at it closer. "It's blood. You have dried blood in your setting." Jubilee said, scrunching her nose up. "Gross."

"Does that surprise you for some reason?" Zoe asked, chuckling to herself. The two girls shook their heads, not wanting to argue that point. K laughed at them, taking her hand back, and rubbing her head. These girls were so – normal. The notion had her daydreaming about her own childhood, and what she was like when she was these girls' age. She couldn't remember everything, but one memory came to mind.

She was probably 15. She was walking home from school, barefoot, her dress catching in the breeze. She was walking past the old man that used to tell stories about his time out west. His stories centered on the James brothers, and losing money playing poker with Wild Bill.

She was almost in front of his place when a couple of older boys started harassing her, taking her books and trying to lift her skirt up, pushing her back and forth between them. At first she was upset, scared. Then when one of them kissed her, she got mad. She snapped, her whole body language changed and before much time had passed she'd pounded the shit out of one of them and knocked the other out. She gathered her books and simply continued on her path when the old man called out to her.

He'd told her that she had gunslinger's eyes. She looked at him strangely and hurried back home. She didn't know at the time what that meant, but she'd learned over the years. She was focused. Ready and just waiting. It wasn't something she could control, it just happened. Sudden hyper awareness on top of high functioning senses was a dangerous combination for anyone who meant her harm. With that in mind, she wasn't shocked when she saw the rustle of movement in the trees out of the corner of her eye. The flash of blonde hair in the deepening green, she grimly smiled to herself. Jean was right. He did turn up. The bastard was right there.

...

Jubilee was watching K. No one had asked her to, but she seemed different this morning. She looked distant when she was talking with the girls, but now, suddenly her whole body language was different. She was upright, relaxed. Her movements fluid and purposeful. She thought it was almost like watching Logan when he went into autopilot. Oh shit. She nearly dropped her spoon. It _was _like watching Logan. Or a horror movie. She froze as K carefully set her coffee mug down and stepped towards the sliding door out of the kitchen. Her body flowed, moving like a predator, K was just past the patio when Jubilee saw Creed coming out of the treeline. She was screaming mentally for Jean, who immediately alerted everyone in the team.

In the garage, Logan's heart jumped. What the hell was she tryin' to do? He ran as fast as he could but they'd already started fighting by the time Logan got there. The girls were standing in horror as K started the offensive. The first thing Logan heard coming out of the door was Creed's pained scream when K slashed his groin, dodging his claws and keeping just out of his reach. Logan let his claws fly as he ran up, ready to break into the fray. She yelled at him to stay clear as the pair continued, K moving fast enough that Creed didn't have time or breath to throw insults. He was bleeding heavily. From damn near everywhere. She kept slashing him fast enough that his healing didn't matter much. As one wound would close, she'd open a new one. K had a few hits on her clothes, but not more than what some of the punk kids would pay to wear. Then Logan saw it. Her eyes were beyond angry. He stayed back, deciding to only jump in if and when K needed help, worried that he might hinder her rather than help.

Creed turned towards Logan, figuring he'd nail the runt and get his little attack bitch off him. She wouldn't hurt her little Logan, right? And he'd never let a woman fight his battles, would he – shit! Turning his back on her wasn't smart. Even for that little moment. She sliced his hamstrings and Achilles, leaving his legs worthless until they healed. He meant to roll over, but she jumped on his back, wrapping her legs around his neck and squeezing hard, trying to make him black out. He sunk his claws in her thighs, wriggling his fingers deeply in the wounds meaning to tear her legs off if she didn't let him loose. But she suddenly had a moment of inspiration. She leaned back and sliced through his spine. He didn't have time to scream as his body went numb. Logan pulled her off him as Scott ran some cuffs over, and Hank scanned his body for any electronics. They searched him, and restrained him tightly, leaving him where K had dropped him on the lawn.

Scott had called Stark, explaining how it had already gone down. Stark made sure that this time the Avengers responded quickly, a transport already on the way.

K was breathing hard, still wanting to finish the job. Logan didn't restrain her, but he kept a hold on her as she came back to herself. Groaning, she leaned against him, rubbing her bloodied legs. She wasn't healing right. There was too much blood.

"Something's wrong." she said, her voice shaking. He laid her on the ground, tearing her soaked jeans open looking for the problem. The punctures weren't closing. He yelled for Hank who had not yet gotten into the house. Hank came running realizing there was just too damn much blood.

…...

K was focusing on Hank running across the lawn towards her. She didn't think much of it until she realized he was getting fuzzier as he got closer. She felt a hand on her cheek, and looking up she saw Logan's concerned face, but couldn't hear him right. She tried to raise her hand to him, but it was just too damn heavy, and she was so tired. She was thinking very hard, trying to say the words, but they wouldn't come out. She closed her eyes, ready to go to sleep as she felt like she was floating.

She kept hearing a familiar voice calling her name. She couldn't open her eyes though. She wanted to sleep, but they kept calling her. What the hell were they even saying? She tried to focus hard on the voice. She couldn't go to sleep not knowing what whoever it was wanted. But she wanted to so so badly.

…...

Creed laughed as he lay next to the couple. Logan unable to tear himself from K, calling to her to hold on as Hank tried to stop the bleeding.

"She's slipping. What the hell happened?" Jean asked as they worked on K trying to get her stable enough to move to the med lab. They couldn't find the reason for K's sudden inability to heal, and she was losing blood faster than they could give it to her.

"I was hopin' to hit you, runt. Gonna almost be sorry to see this one go. She's a damn good little piece." Creed said, gloating.

"What did you do, Victor?" Jean asked, hands still on K's wound, holding pressure trying to keep her from bleeding more.

"Why the hell would I tell you? You can find out on autopsy, bitch." Creed responded. Logan snapped. He didn't care what his team mates thought. K was right. Jail of any kind was too good for this lowlife. Without even moving K's head from his lap he popped his claws, removing Creed's head from his shoulders once again. He went with Jean and Hank, never leaving K's side as they rushed her to the lab. Scott booted Creed's head a few feet away from his body, not trusting leaving it that close. He was going to wait for Stark to show. Jubilee slowly approached Scott.

"Is he – dead?" she asked warily, eyeing the massive body in front of them.

"For now." Scott said, putting a hand on her shoulder. Jubilee hugged him, looking at Creed as if he'd stand up at any moment and come after them like some horrible psycho killer movie. Suddenly, an idea hit her. She aimed her hands at Creed's head and slowly let the power and size of her plasmoids grow until they touched it. Concentrating as hard as she could, she began to force the plasmoids to tear him apart on a molecular level, detonating each atom until there was nothing left in it's place on the lawn, not even a burn mark.

Scott had watched her, shocked at her sudden fine level of control.

"Good idea, Jubes, but I have to ask," he said quietly "how the heck did you do that?" Jubes laughed through her tears.

"I've been watching Wolvie. I finally realized what happens when he just kind of ….. does his thing. So I tried to do it too. In private. I think I have it figured out now. It feels weird, but it's also good, I guess." Jubilee told him. Surprised, Scott gave her a squeeze.

"Well, you did really well. I'm going to wait for Stark to show. Why don't you just go on inside." Scott told her. She left him, looking over her shoulder a few times as she went, still in disbelief that Creed was gone for good. Now she just had to hope that Hank could figure out how to keep K from joining him.

…...

Stark landed about 5 minutes before the transport did.

"That's gruesome. Where's his head?" he asked as the face came off his armor.

"Would you believe Jubilee disintegrated it?" Scott told him as Stark circled the body.

"Wow. How's Logan? This guy looks rough." Stark said, eyeing the many slash marks and stab wounds littering Creed's body that were appearing to be half healed.

"He's fine. Not a scratch. K's in the lab though. He did something to her when they were fighting. Now she's not healing." Scott told him, Stark freezing mid step. His eyes widened and he stared between Sabretooth and Scott.

"_K did this?_" he said, disbelieving. Scott nodded and Stark rushed for the lab.

They'd gotten the bleeding to slow, and currently, Logan was hooked up, transfusing her with his own blood trying to keep her going sitting next to her in a bed. Logan looked up at him, Stark still in his armor. He stepped forward, the mask going back on as he started giving Jarvis some orders. He held up his arm over K and scanned her body, Logan and Hank both looking at him as if he was crazy as he did so. The scan stopped, focusing itself on her leg, where the wound was deepest, and hardest to stop bleeding.

"Doc, looks like there's a shard of carbonadium near that artery. Might want to test her blood – if there's any left." Stark said, his face grim and eyes wide. Logan's heart dropped. Carbonadium suspended his healing factor, looks like it did the same to her. Quickly, Hank drew the blood and ran the tests. Within a few minutes, the Shi'ar machinery confirmed Starks' scans. Hank pushed Logan out of the way, working quickly to remove the shard in her leg, the bleeding picking up again from him digging for the metal while Celia prepped the little used, but much threatened, dialysis machine. If there was free floating carbonadium, it would have to come out or she wouldn't be able to recover. The dialysis machine would be able to remove that along with any other toxins accumulating since the injury.

They waited until the very last moment before stopping the transfusion she was getting from Logan. Two hours later, the wound was finally, very slowly, starting to close. The machine had indeed removed quite a few free floating fragments. A second scan by Stark's armor confirmed she was clean. Logan thanked him as Celia pulled the curtain around her, cutting off her bloodied clothes, ready to re-dress her in a hospital gown when Stark stopped Hank.

"Why are you tying her down? That doesn't seem right." Tony said, uncomfortable with Hank's decision.

"It's not for her, it's for us. She will most likely become very violent upon finding herself in my lab, redressed and cleaned up." he explained as he shortened the tether on her wrist. Tony looked at Logan.

"This is alright with you?" Stark asked Logan as he washed the blood from her face. Logan shook his head.

"No it's not. Hank's just tryin' to keep himself in once piece though." he replied, turning to face him. "you know they usually do the same to me too. Things get ugly when you been experimented on and wake up in a place like this." He looked sad as he returned to cleaning her up. Stark looked her over, his eyes stopping on her left hand.

"Huh." he said, looking at the congealed blood on her hand, centering around what he was sure looked like an engagement ring. "You guys getting married?" Logan stopped cleaning her face, watching her sleep.

"I hope so." he said quietly. Tony tactfully squeezed his shoulder before leaving them alone.


	23. Finals Time

_Motherfucker._ K thought. She was starting to wake up, feeling groggy as hell. She was cursing her luck again as the sound of the beeping monitor registered in her brain. _Dear God, please don't let me be in some hellhole again._ The smell of flowers was all around her. Why did it smell like flowers?

"Mornin' sunshine. You gonna open your eyes or just pretend you're asleep all day?" Logan's voice broke the beeping for her, and she smiled as she opened her eyes. At least she wasn't somewhere horrible if he was there, hopefully. He was smirking at her as he leaned in to kiss her, untying her hands as he hovered over her body. She smiled when he was copping a feel as he went to release her. When he fiddled with the restraints, she realized she was indeed in the lab. But, where did the flower smell come from? When he broke the kiss, she tore her eyes from him and looked around her in shock. Half the lab was overflowing with flowers.

"Where did these come from?" she asked as she sat up, pulling the IV out of her arm. Logan smiled.

"Stark's idea, if you can believe it." He said, shaking his head. "He didn't like that Hank had you restrained. He thought if the scent of the lab was drowned out with something …. nicer, you might not wake up panicking." She looked around in shock. The most fragrant flowers were closest to her – lilacs in vases and hyacinths in pots – blooming. It was pretty strong smelling, actually.

"Why didn't you just climb in with me?" she asked, getting a smirk from him.

"Molesting you in your sleep might be considered as assault." he deadpanned.

"Or it might wake me up faster." she countered as Hank found his way to the couple.

"It's also a bit of a 'congratulations' on finally, truly killing that sorry piece of garbage." He told her as her eyes went wide.

"What did I miss?" she asked breathlessly. Logan gave her a very quick version of events as K tried hard to remember all the details of the encounter with Creed.

"You are very lucky, young lady." Hank told her, interrupting Logan's recount as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed.

"Do you have anything to wear that _doesn't_ make my ass hang in the breeze?" K asked, trying to cover herself. Hank laughed and handed her some sweats.

"Good lord. I feel like I'm going for some kind of record, going through these things." she griped as she pulled the top on.

"You got a way to go to catch up to the record." he teased as she waved at Hank on the way out.

Classes were in session, so the halls were empty as they made their way to their room, K itching to take a shower.

"So, what happened back there anyhow?" she asked as they climbed the stairs.

"He poisoned you. Stopped you from healin' and damn near bled you out. It was bad for a while there. Hank had to take some ... extreme measures. Scared the hell outta me ya hothead. You can't do that kinda crap to me." he told her, looking grim.

"I'm sorry." she said, feeling the blush rise in her cheeks. "He was coming out of the woods. He'd already spotted me. I just didn't really have time to say anything." she tried to explain.

"That's not how Jubes saw it, darlin. You had time, you just wanted to take him out. I get that, but it's not just you anymore. Don't take those kinda chances. I don't wanna have to bury another woman I love." He replied, his spontaneous confession taking her off guard. She felt guilty now for taking a risk like that when he pointed it out. She didn't want him hurting on her account. She nodded silently.

"I won't do anything like that again. I promise." she choked out, as they reached the door to their room, remembering how freaked out she was when he was in the lab. He closed the door with his foot behind them then pushed her across the room onto the bed, landing kisses on the growing amount of exposed flesh while he stripped her down.

…...

The adults of the mansion were gathering in the dining room. It was the time of year to prepare the students for their finals, which at the Xavier Institute, meant that it was going to be a time of danger and excitement clashing harshly with hours long written tests. K had not planned on showing seeing as her class was considered more of a fun thing than a real subject. That is, until Logan dragged her to the meeting. She didn't pay attention as they were discussing the testing schedule. She leaned back in her chair, her hair hanging down over the back of it as she swayed her head, feeling the hair move while they argued over time slots, since no one's test would fit in one class time. She gave up even trying to pretend like she was participating and laid her head down on her arms while they hammered out the details of who would be assisting in the which test. She damn near had a heart attack when the room got quiet suddenly and Scott cleared his throat.

"Will next weekend work for you?" Charles said as K picked her head up, eyes wide as she looked from one face to the next. Logan was biting his lip and Charles was smirking. Everyone else was staring.

"For … what exactly." K replied, her eyes still flicking between the faces.

"For a practical test for the students. Will next weekend be alright?" Charles asked again.

"Oh. Riding. OH. Sure. That'll work." She replied as Charles smiled at her. "But what exactly … I mean how do you want to grade it?"

"Do you need some help from the other staff for testing?" Scott asked, largely ignoring her question. "Because if you do, we'll need to know now so we can make sure you have all you need." She looked at Scott, her mind racing. She had no clue how to test them. It's not like it was rocket science. You keep the horse between you and the ground. She could think of nothing that would keep things interesting. Not after Logan and Kitty's classes. Bobby even planned a snowball fight for after his math class was done testing.

"Yes." She said, still trying to decide what could be done.

"O. K. - how many?" Scott asked, flipping through his note pad to see who was available.

"All of them." K said, pulling her shoulders to her ears. The whole table stopped and looked at her.

"Really. Everyone." Scott said, dropping his pad on the table. She nodded her head. She realized what her test could be. "That alright with everyone?" Scott asked, scanning the table. No one objected, as their curiosity was peaked. "Great. You got it. Post up instructions on the board. Testing will start at 8am." He told her.

"Make it 10." she told him. Scott stopped, looked at her a moment then nodded, changing his notes. She looked to Logan who was smirking now.

"What." she said, looking him up and down. He just shook his head, thinking that she'd just bullshitted her way out of an awkward situation while getting Scott to bend at the same time. It was mildly entertaining.

"Lastly – the art class." Scott started, half of the staff already looking away, trying to not meet his eyes. "As always they will need a model. Who's turn is it this year?" he asked, looking around the room.

"K's never done it." Remy said, smiling. K looked over to him and shrugged.

"Sure, why not." She said, leaning back in her chair.

"You do know that they're drawin' nudes?" Logan asked her, his eyebrow raised.

"No, but thanks for the heads up." She replied "I'll make sure I wax." Bobby barely covered his mouth to stifle the laugh in time as she looked at him like the immature child that he could often be.

"That ain't gonna fly, darlin'." he told her, his expression suddenly very serious.

"Not like I'm giving lap dances. It's just drawing. I don't mind." she told him as the group watched on.

"Too goddamned bad, I don't like it." he growled out.

"Logan, you're making a big deal about this. All of us have modeled for the class before. You know it's no biggie." Kitty told him, knowing full well that he wasn't going to let this go easily.

"Hypocrite." K said, doing her best to sound scandalized, her eyes sparkling as a smile came on her face. Logan was getting angry with her, and they all saw it coming. She opened her mouth, a snarky comment ready to fly.

"Can you just do it with a leotard so he doesn't have a coronary?" Scott interjected, hoping to defuse the situation. K looked at Scott like he ran over her dog.

"Of course, Tovarich." Piotr said with a smirk, entertained at Logan's possessive streak that was starting to rear it's ugly head. The rest of the meeting went off without any further problems, K's hand on Logan's knee as a kind of peace offering. After they dispersed, Logan tried to pull her up to the bedroom.

"Hey, I have a test to prep for mister." she told him, pulling her hand free. He smirked a little, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall.

"You got a plan or are you just givin' me a hard time?" he asked, not convinced that she was really ready to drop the little argument from earlier.

"Little bit of both." she admitted freely and quickly. "But, I really do have to talk to Scott, I have a list of things I'm going to need before the weekend." Logan looked surprised.

"What kind of things?" he asked, curious now as to what she had brewing.

"Oh, you know …. some stuff I can just get from around the property … some logs and things, but I need a few ropes, some barrels, poles, a mailbox, flares, some lumber, oh, and of course, I'll need a backhoe." She rattled off quickly. He was sure she was pulling his leg.

"Bullshit. You don't need all that crap just for a riding test." he growled out.

"You can help me – but not with the backhoe. I love those things." she offered. He couldn't tell if she was teasing or not. She looked like she was telling the truth.

"What the hell. I wanna see the look on Scooter's face when you tell him you need heavy equipment." He replied, his curiosity outweighing his irritation from earlier. In short, it was totally worth it when K handed Scott the list of things she would need for the riding tests. He read through it, his face betraying his disbelief at some of the items.

"You really need all this stuff?" he asked. She nodded.

"Unless you want them falling asleep in the saddle. You said test. This will make one helluva test." She explained. He couldn't figure out for the life of him what she was up to, but hesitantly agreed.

…...

She had trouble getting away from Logan the morning of the Art Class's final. He tried keeping her from getting dressed, but that backfired spectacularly when she told him she'd just walk down without any clothes. He backpedaled and finally grudgingly handed her the leotard in exchange for a kiss. The art class went well, though she was more than ready to move by the time she was done. She had to laugh when Logan checked in with the class – obviously making sure she didn't strip down just to be spiteful, and to check in on what the drawings actually looked like, pausing at a few with a slightly impressed look on his scowl.

Scott was stunned when he went to K's new obstacle course. When he saw what she was up to, he smiled, and asked if he could try it when it was finished. She of course agreed. Riding was going to be the last test the students took before classes were out for the summer. The morning of the test K gave a very loose set of instructions to all the staff, setting them in different spots throughout the course, telling them how to score them. Once everyone was in place, she ran through the course to show what they were supposed to do. Most of them wanted to try it before the day was out. When the students showed up, she gave them the instructions and picked up a stop watch.

"This is an extreme-style cowboy race, kids. You will have 25 obstacles, and it is timed. Accuracy and time counts. Most accurate and fastest rides will both get a prize." She took them to a spot where they could see the whole course, told them the path of the race and answered any questions on what to do. The first few riders had a tough time, but made it through the course, laughing by the end of it. Everyone stayed to watch their classmates and cheer them on. They counted it as a bonus when the teachers took the course on too, Many laughing even harder when Hank's horse wouldn't move halfway through or when Remy tried to go too fast for his skills and ended up on the ground. K was about to announce the winners for most accurate and fastest when Jubilee suggested that she and Logan run the course as a real race – one on one. K laughed it off, ready to wave off the suggestion when Logan agreed.

"You're kidding right?" K said, looking at him in disbelief. He shook his head

"No, everyone's had fun with it and a couple of these punks have money on it that I'll fall off. They're still mad about how the combat class test ended up." he said with a smile. She looked at the student body, many of which she just now realized were sporting spectacular bruises.

"Alright then." She shrugged. They both went to the starting line, the kids choosing the horses for them.

"Mount up at the signal to go?" she asked Logan, he smirked in response and nodded. They both got ready, and on Scott's signal they both jumped, Logan getting the start on her, but she took off before her feet were in the stirrups. They were pretty much head to head for most of the race. Logan would gain a little just to lose it at the next obstacle. Both students and staff were cheering as the couple got knock down drag out competitive. K even reaching over acting as though she was going to untie his saddle. In the end, she edged him out. Scott took over, announcing who won. K looked around trying to regain her thoughts when Logan just grabbed her and planted a kiss on her. K handed him the awards envelopes in her back pockets.

"You can help me hand out the prizes." She smiled to him. "Most accurate run goes to Jubilee." she announced, giving her a hug when she came to claim her prize. "Good job, kiddo." she beamed at her as Logan gave her a squeeze and an envelope containing $100.

"And fastest run belongs to Hisako. Well done." K tells her as she awkwardly gave K a quick hug, smiling when Logan gave her a little squeeze with her prize too. K turned to look at Logan then back to the school in general as Scott dismissed them with some final announcements before the break began.

They leaned on the fence watching the crowd disperse while a few of the students volunteered to put the horses up. She was enjoying the late afternoon light when Logan took her hand in his, interlocking their fingers. She smiled absently as his thumb stroked hers. After a bit he pulled her gently to him, pulling her arms behind her back and kissing her against the fence post.

"Get yer bags packed, sweetheart. We got a little trip to go on in the mornin'." he told her when their kiss ended. She wrinkled her forehead, wondering what he had in mind. There wasn't anything happening was there? He smiled at her expression before leading her up to the house.


	24. Tying the knot

Morning came waaay too early for K after the night Logan treated her to. How the hell was he even awake and upright already? What the hell.

"C'mon, darlin' we gotta get rollin'." he told her, gently rubbing her shoulder. She responded by pulling the blanket over her head and curling up on herself into a ball. He tried coaxing her for a minute and when that didn't work he pulled the blanket from her. The morning sun was way brighter than she thought it should be as the blanket came off her face. She scowled at him, cracking one eye open then slowly stretching out, arching her back and burying her face in the pillow again. She peeked at him through the hair over her face.

"Isn't there any way I can get you to stay in bed for another half hour? Please?" she tried as sweetly as she could manage, trying to coax him now. He was watching her flirt and with a growl decided to give her what she wanted – sort of. He turned to her and covered her naked form with kisses and nips starting at her neck and working his way down. He got a grip on her legs and started kissing his way down her knee and up her thighs, not stopping his assault until she was begging him, after failing at trying to dislodge his head from between her legs by his hair and promising to do what he asked. He smirked as he finally looked up to her face, her hands still twisted in his hair.

"You gonna behave now?" he asked, dragging his teeth over his bottom lip. He didn't move until she nodded, releasing her and helping her upright.

"I will get you back." she promised. He grinned.

"God I hope so. Come on, finish packin'." he replied, heading off to clean himself up while she got dressed. She was shaking her head to herself, and slipping on a blue flannel shirt when he came out.

"I can't pack until you tell me where we're heading." she told him as she buttoned. He pulled her to him, arms around her waist, not wanting to have her run off when he told her what he had in mind.

"It's the end of June, sweetheart. We've had a couple too many close calls for my comfort." He told her as comprehension dawned finally.

"OH. You … you mean you want.. it's time we..." she stammered, her eyes wide.

"Yeah." he cut her off, watching shock wash over her. _Oh hell. He wants it official, and he wants it now._ She thought to herself, nerves catching up to her.

"Well, we don't have anything figured out …. I mean, you said you wanted to do it right, right?" she asked, wondering how in depth he'd gotten as her hands went numb. He shook his head at her, eyes closed, shoulders relaxed.

"I said I wanted a ceremony. Only thing I got planned is the minister." he clarified.

"Welllll … OK then. A slightly more formal version of eloping then?" she asked. He nodded.

"What do you say, darlin'?" she thought about it a few seconds as her heart raced, not realizing that she was nodding until she said yes. He kissed her then picked up her bag.

"Wait … we don't know..." she began but he cut her off.

"Relax. You love me right?" he asked, she nodded. "And I love you, so - what are you waiting for?"

"I hate when you're right." she sighed, resigned as they headed out the door. At the bottom of the stairs a group of X-women are waiting for her, peppered with a few faces she's never met before. Logan kissed her, enjoying the taste of her lips as he pulled her tightly to him, pouring his all into it, leaving her breathless, lips tender and wanting more. As the kiss ended, they both opened their eyes, panting. She'd be embarrassed by the display had it not been for the fact that he was clearly in a more obvious state of arousal. He gave her another quick kiss, murmuring a low "love you" before handing her off.

"See ya tomorrow, darlin'." he said as a tall unfamiliar redhead took her hand from him. She whistled low as his back retreated from view down the hall.

"I have never seen him quite like that." She said, pulling K into a hug before introducing herself as one of Logan's oldest friends – Heather Hudson.

"Logan said you banned the girls from planning out a wedding for the two of you?" Heather asked, her brow wrinkled. "Why? They wouldn't have gone overboard."

"They already had when I banned them." K replied, looking to Jean who shrugged.

"So sue me. I wanted to make it nice for you, so did everyone else." Jean said, grumping only slightly as she stood next to Heather. "Which is why we asked Heather to figure out the details for you. She's not a member of the team, so technically, you didn't ban her." Jean said, smiling.

"I did get some help." Heather said, not wanting to start off on the wrong foot with Logan's bride.

"No. We were consulted." Ororo said. "We did not help, though we wish we could have."

…...

That night, the guys were getting loud and trying to give Logan a hard time. The liquor was flowing freely as everyone had brought some to the party. Poor Nightcrawler was nearly falling down drunk already, enthusiastically enjoying keeping Logan 'out of trouble' as they put it. Logan was quite surprised when the tall quiet man that Scott had been chatting with finally got a moment to introduce himself as K's old friend Bill from Superior. Scott looked at him strangely as he shook Logan's hand.

"Superior? As in the lake?" Scott asked. Bill laughed at him.

"No, the state. The Superior State." Bill said. Scott stared at him blankly. "The Yoop, boy. Better half of Michigan." recognition finally dawned. Must be a local thing. Bill congratulated Logan on landing the girl, explaining that back home she had a reputation of being a hell raiser that never took up any of the guys on their offers for anything but fishing. She was happy to drink with them, hunt and fish, but no matter how smitten the guys were, she always turned down their romantic offers.

"I dunno what you did to get her, mister, but I can tell ya you're the envy of half a the yoop. Damn near every man that met her woulda given his left arm just for a chance. You just don't find women like that." Bill lamented, shaking his head. Logan chuckled to himself – a known reputation as a hard ass. Why was he not surprised?

"If she never took up with anyone, Bill, where do you come in?" Logan asked as Bill looked a little uncomfortable.

"Oh, I won't lie, I tried to throw my hat in the ring too, but you know when a girl ain't interested. I swallowed my pride and just made friends with her. She worked for me at my barn for a while, training the horses. When she had to take off, I offered to take care of her cottage for her until she got back. To be honest, we thought she might a gotten herself into a tight spot or killed when we never heard from her. I was so glad to hear she was OK when that Summers woman called, I damn near cried." Bill told him.

"Why'd she leave anyhow?" Logan asked. Suddenly curious as to why she'd leave a good group of friends and a job that let her do what she loved.

"She didn't tell ya, eh?" he asked, "I'm not surprised. Never seen her so damned upset or pissed off." His eyes narrowed as he watched Logan's reactions.

"Never asked 'er." Logan said, shrugging.

"The MRD came a knockin' so to speak. A few of us knew she was a mutant, but we didn't care. She was good company, and she never did nothin to anyone. Anyhow, some fella she'd turned down at the bar saw her get hurt on a horse real bad. Said she broke her neck. Anyhow, he rushed in there, ready to call the ambulance when she kinda cracked her neck and stretched out. Just healed right up and sat up. First he was scared, then he got nasty with her. She tried to convince him he didn't see what he saw, but he knew. He still was pretty chapped that she turned him down flat not even a week or so before and he figured he had an advantage now. He told her she'd have to screw him from there on out, or he'd call her in, even went so far as to put his hands on her and start unzippin'. Figured he had her over a barrel. She got pissed off, slapped him and told him to go to hell, so he called her in. She come up to the house in tears right before she disappeared into the woods. A couple of us beat the shit outta him whenever we saw him until he moved .Don't know what ever happened to him." Logan's temper rose up hearing what had set off a miserable chain of events for her.

"But," the big man continued "Looks like it worked out for the best. She's got a guy that can handle her, eh?" Logan took it as a complement as it was meant and handed Bill another beer, clapping him on the back.

…...

The girls had made a full schedule. Between travel, the Spa and the manicurist, the movies, the impromptu wedding shower (that was so very clearly set up far ahead and consisted entirely of flimsy lacy under garments) and then the prep on the day itself, K hardly had a moment to register that she wasn't sleeping with his arms around her for the first time in months.

The morning of the wedding was beautiful. Perfect clear blue skies, birds singing, and the smell of fresh flowers everywhere. K was awakened by Kitty bearing a gift of a tall mimosa, swearing that it was good for the nerves. She got 3 sips in before Ororo removed it from her death grip, and sent her into the shower. 15 minutes later, they descended on her head, before she had even the chance to dry off. K sat there in a towel while the most beautiful and formidable women in the world fussed over her hair and makeup, feeling small.

"Ladies, really, we were talking about blue jeans yesterday, there is NO need for all this, just let me pull it into a ponytail!" K tried to wave them off.

All motion stopped and they pulled back to face her.

"A ponytail? Please tell me this is your attempt at a joke." Betsy frowned.

"No, seriously, just let me do this easy ... please?" K begged.

"Not a chance." Heather replied, "YOU may have not known about this until yesterday, but WE have been planning since he proposed. Logan doesn't even know what all is going on."

"Oh shit. What happened to you didn't have anything to do with it?" K said, eyes narrowing as she looked at Jean, who shrugged noncommmitally.

"Just about every time there is a wedding for one of us it gets ruined. He needs this more than he realizes, especially after Mariko left him at the altar. That's not going to happen today, right?" Kitty asked as she snatched up K's hand on the premise of double checking the manicure that was not even 12 hours old.

"I can't really compare to that, guys. She was special. A once in a lifetime girl." K said, eyes downcast. "I'm just more durable."

Shock was written on all their faces, but it was Jean that broke the silence.

"YOU, young lady are far prettier and more special than you give yourself credit for. Just trust me on this, and wait until you see yourself in the mirror. You are stunning and don't even know it. Besides, if you really want to fight us, I'll just put a whammy on you long enough for us to get you ready. You'll wake up as you're walking down the aisle, so just trust me. You're a once in a lifetime girl too." Jean finished.

There was just enough of an edge to her tone to let K know she wasn't fooling. So she resigned herself to them and their very girly clutches, laughing to herself as she was really feeling her age at the moment.

"I know how to wear makeup, ya know, I just don't like to." K grumbled under her breath.

"Whatever. No one here has ever seen you dolled up. EVER. So, until we've seen it, we can't believe it. If no one saw it, it didn't happen!" Jubilee threw at her.

"Et tu, Jubilation?" K growled.

"OK, time to get dressed ladies." Jean said with a warm smile and light dancing in her eyes.

K didn't see it before she was stepping into it. As she started to look down, Ororo swept her hair off her shoulders and held it up as Jean zipped it up. Before K could look into the mirror, they turned her around to look at them, fussing over the way it fell here and there, arranging and rearranging the new curls on her shoulders, triple checking her makeup.

"How are you doing?" Jean asked. "Nervous?"

"A little, why?" K asked, concerned there was a problem.

"I don't want you to mess us your makeup." She replied as she gently spun her on the spot so she could see herself.

K didn't recognize the goddess in the mirror. Perfect hair and makeup that accentuated her high cheekbones and dark eyes. Even her lips that she thought was a bit too small looked kissable even to her.

The dress that they had chosen looked like something that had fallen from a magazine. Two sparkling spaghetti straps held up a beaded piece that rested between her breasts where the flowing fabric floated down, gently over her hips, then looking like it pooled at her feet. No matter which way K turned, no matter the direction of the wind, it would skim her body like a lovers' caress. Completely sensual, and somehow sophisticated.

Just then Heather reached over and gently closed her mouth as she handed K a understated bouquet of peonies and roses all pinks and white.

"That's the reaction we're expecting from the groom, honey." Heather smiled at her like a big sister. K went numb suddenly with elation and terror. She'd never been scared of anything and now was terrified to walk down the aisle to the man that she loved. What if he didn't show up? What if he changed his mind? What if he realized that the only way she'd ever be pretty was if there was a crack team of beautiful mutant women working their voodoo on her 24 hours a day? Her knees began to buckle, and Kitty swept over and caught her right before she went over, guiding her to the bed to sit down.

Jean and Betsy looked at each other then both took a hand. Betsy looked her squarely in the face before giving her viewpoint of the truth.

"If he did not find you irrisistably attractive, he certainly would not have asked you to marry him. Do not doubt me. I am not nearly as ethical as Jean about keeping out of other's heads. You effect each other deeply, and he is more nervous than you right now. He just has more experience covering it." Betsy told her, rock solid in her position. K took a deep breath. She could find no lie on Betsy's face, though she didn't expect to see one on a telepath anyhow. Suddenly, Betsy kneeled down and lifted K's dress, yanking a garter up her leg, startling K with how high up her leg she went, trying to block her hand as she slipped it impossibly high between her legs.

"Jesus, Betts – why?" K started as Betsy smiled up at her from the floor.

"Don't you dare move it. That's for Logan." She grinned. K stared at her a moment and tried to steady her nerves. It only made it worse.

"OK that's it. Rogue, would you go get Remy for a moment? K needs a little help." Jean said, Rogue not wasting any time as she zoomed off, returning with her cajun lover.

"Mon dieu. Such a pretty wreck Remy has never seen." Gambit said, kneeling down next to her, covering her shaking hand with his as he tried to subtly manipulate her emotions enough to calm her. He knew it was working when she gave his hand a squeeze in thanks.

"Alright. How long before we need to get this show on the road?" K sighed.

"Right now. They're just waiting on you." Heather smiled back at her.

"Now or Never. OK. Let's do it." K mumbled, looking more like she was ready to go 3 rounds with Sabretooth than give herself to Logan as his wife.

...

"Are you ready for this, because you don't have to do this if you changed your mind." Scott told her as he took K's hand.

"Yeah. I am. It's just, well, I was raised at a time when getting married was pretty much domestic slavery. I've avoided it my whole life." K confessed. "And, you know, I don't want to make an ass of myself." He was clearly taken off guard.

"You're marrying Logan, so, it's too late for me to stop you making an ass." he teased her, hesitating before he asked her about where she was raised. K laughed as she confessed.

"I was born in 1907, Scott. Women didn't even vote until 1920. My folks expected me to marry up and have a dozen babies. And he's older than I am. Jeez. Those Victorian women were well dressed chattel." she explained, her hands shaking again. In a moment of surprising honesty, Scott defended Logan.

"He's not like that, K. He'd do anything for you, I know it. He's a lot more modern than you'd give him credit for." Scott said. "Sure he's territorial, but damnit, so am I. That's just how men get when they know they found the right girl."

K smiled genuinely at him as she took his arm, both of them laughing at the fact that Scott would be giving her to Logan, accenting that Logan knew as little about this as K did. She took a deep breath and suddenly couldn't hear anything but the rushing of blood in her ears. Very fuzzily she could hear Scott urging her to either go or run the other way. With a nervous laugh, they stepped out of the cabin and headed towards the meadow where K could see their extended family gatherered, clearly awaiting them. At the far end, K saw a group of men, dressed to the nines, and what she believed was her betrothed readjusting his tie and standing with a few other men.

...

_Must be time for things to get rollin'_. Logan thought to himself as he spotted the women coming down, all looking the part of perfection. They all have the same mona lisa smile, and suddenly Logan is nervous. _What do they know? _He wondered, turning to Mac next to him.

"Wow, Logan. You know how to pick 'em." Mac said, as K made her appearance in the tall wildflowers. Before he spotted her, he smelled her scent on the breeze. The crowd quieted right after his head snapped up to her direction. K was looking down, one hand holding up the front of her dress so she wouldn't trip, and the other looped through Scott's arm, holding a bunch of flowers. _What the hell? Whose idea was it for Scooter to give her to me?_ Logan thought, as K's laughing face looked up to Scott, who was smiling at her like they were old friends, saying something that kept her moving forward. He couldn't breathe suddenly. His eyes slid up and down her body finally locking eyes with her as the laugh fell from her lips, for an instant her nervousness showing as she looked a bit like a deer in headlights before she smiled warmly at him. _Logan, breathe._ Jean's voice echoed in his head as he forced air into his lungs. It took him a tremendous amount of control to restrain himself when Scott kissed her cheek and handed her off to him. He had to keep his hands to himself. For a little while longer anyhow. He couldn't tear his eyes from her, and she began to blush a little under his intense gaze. The winds picked up just enough to make the fabric on her dress float a bit, dancing across her hips and fluttering at her breasts. This was not helping his concentration at all. Kurt made sure the ceremony was short and sweet, leading the group as they applauded the couple as they kissed, Logan's hands pulling her tightly to him, ready to claim his bride, not even attempting to keep the kiss PG. When he finally let her up for air, she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly while he kissed her neck. She was smiling hugely in spite of herself, for the first time truly enjoying his lack of self censorship as he showered her with kisses, and gripped her like a drowning man. When he regained a little control of himself, Kurt gave K and Logan both a hug, congratulating them. As the crowd surrounded them, wishing them well, K spotted Bill.

"Oh my God. How did you get here?" she asked, giving him a huge hug, Bill being very careful of where his hands landed after seeing how her new husband had held her so possessively.

"Your friends got me here. That Summers woman didn't want you marrying' this _canuck_ without a little backup." he laughed. She smiled and caught up with him quickly as Heather kissed Logan on the cheek, telling him how pleased that she and Mac were that he'd finally found someone so right for him. Jubilee handed K her bouquet back.

"You have to throw it." she told her, dead serious. Chloe and Zoe were next to her, nodding in agreement. She opened her mouth to object when Jean asked the women to gather for the bouquet toss. She looked exasperated and Bill laughed out loud, knowing how much she disliked some of this feminine crap. Logan urged her to go ahead and she grudgingly chucked it, Kitty phasing to snatch it up. The women around her cheering her on. She thought she was off the hook until Betsy told Logan to go after the garter. He laughed and raised an eyebrow at her, Betsy explaining that she'd put it on K herself.

"No hands." she grinned at K as she scowled at her. So that's why she'd put it so high up. K made a move to slip it down lower when Betsy grabbed her hand.

"No cheating either, K. You can't help him." She started to protest when the men began to cheer Logan on. He kissed her, whispering a quick _It won't be that bad_ before diving under her dress, his hands firmly on her hips, taking his time while the group cheered him on as K blushed, struggling to keep him from forcing her legs too far apart. Laughing with the group as his whiskers tickled her and he nipped at her under cover of the dress. He gave it a quick toss, several men diving for it at the last second, causing a pile up, with Bobby coming out victorious. Scott invited the group to join them celebrating while the newlyweds had a chance to change. Scott leaned in to Logan whispering something in his ear before the two grinned at each other, leaving Logan and K to their devices.


	25. Consummation and Obligations

The group of friends and well wishers left the couple alone, everyone who knew Logan knew his fine handle of control could only take so much before it broke completely, and judging from the look on his face, he was at his breaking point. He dragged her up to the cabin, unable to keep his hands off her any longer. She was slowing him down just enough to keep him from shredding the dress, pushing her against a tree, he started ravishing her, his hands roaming her body as she tried in vain to get him to just get her to the bedroom first.

"Logan wait … please, just …. ah – wait a minute!" she panted into his ear, having the opposite effect than what she'd wanted. His whole body tensed, she realized how far gone he was getting. Every breath she took, every move she made got her one step closer to him flat out ravaging her, and she knew it. Carefully, with his fine handle of control slipping he leaned in and kissed her gently, his hands slowly resuming their exploration of her sides, suddenly pulling her dress up and sliding one hand behind her knee, pulling it over his hip. She kept trying to slow him down, the time between him stopping and starting again shrinking the closer they got to the cabin. He was growling at her when she stopped him the last time, within sight of the cabin.

"Please," she begged him, breathless and getting nervous. Her head was spinning. "I don't want to end up against a tree – can we please just make it to a bed?" she asked as he froze, his hand almost to the point where her thigh meets the curve of her ass, his thumb stroking her hip bone. He can't stop the growl that comes out any more than he can pull his lips from her neck.

"You might want to run then, darlin' or we're gonna end up startin' this in the dirt." he tells her, forcing himself away from her. He gives her the best chance he can, closing his eyes and trying to keep his back to her as she slipped away from him, booking it to the cabin. He hasn't waited more than a few seconds though when he turns back around, the image of her dress flowing behind her as she runs is more than he can overcome now. She can hear his footfalls as he catches up to her, wrapping his arm around her waist and picking her up. He kicked the door open and threw her over his shoulder carrying her in. K is laughing as he kicked the door shut behind them and rushes to the bedroom. When he dropped her on the bed he started to pull off his tie and jacket.

"Take it off or I will." he tells her seriously, as the shirt he's wearing hits the floor near the jacket. Not sure what exactly he wants off first, she decides to take the smart route and slip off her panties, earning a growl when he spots the lace she just tossed next to his jacket. She stands up next to him, unable to reach her zipper right. Logan rushes her as he yanks open his belt buckle. He pushes her dress up as he unzips the back, slipping his hands into the back of the dress before sliding the straps from her shoulders, exposing her breasts to him. Suddenly, she's on her back as he settles between her legs, the dress still halfway on her while he caresses her breast, mouthing one of her nipples. She grabs him by the sideburns, pulling him up to her, frantically wanting his mouth on hers. He moans as she slides her legs over his hips, K now taking point as the aggressor, and Logan trying to slow her down.

"This isn't going to work if you're going to stop me now." she moans, her hips trying to rise up to him as he slides a hand down to stop her.

"Consider it payback for earlier." he tells her as he continues his controlled assault on her. He pulls back just enough to look at her, ready and waiting for him, the magical fabric of the wedding dress spread across the bed and her stomach, her legs and sex exposed to him.

"Dear Lord, you're beautiful." he nearly whispers "How the hell did I get you to agree to marry me." he marvels, as she slides her hand up his neck, smiling at him. She had no idea how to respond, so she just pulled him to her as he finally got to claim his bride.

…...

Their friends, family and teammates started the party without them. They celebrated in their absence, toasting them while they were hiding away in their cabin. When the couple finally arrived, the women were surprised that K wasn't a total disaster. She'd touched up her makeup and actually looked every bit as lovely that she did for the ceremony. Logan however, did look incredibly guilty. His hair a bit messed in places, his tie missing and the top buttons of his untucked shirt opened. Even so, he was looking somehow, more handsome to several of his lady friends. It was Heather that figured it out.

"He's smiling. A lot." she said quietly to Kitty, who couldn't put her finger on it until it was pointed out. She was right, he was grinning almost non-stop, and he still couldn't seem to keep his hands off K, at the least, holding her hand, resting a hand on her lower back or just running a finger down her arm as they cut a path through the crowd, trying to see everyone for a moment. Bobby had the music going and it wasn't long before the group as a whole was dancing, K and Logan being passed around to various dance partners. She was so busy having people cut in, many of them introducing themselves as they did so, that she didn't realize she was dancing with Stark until he spoke.

"So, you not only dance, but you clean up incredibly well." he said, shamelessly giving her a once over as her eyes widened on seeing who she was dancing with. "What gives? Didn't Logan take the chance to ravage you while no one was looking?"

"I'll just take that as some kind of a complement? Or should I be insulted?" she asked, eyebrow raised.

"No, complement is just fine. Congratulations by the way, I suppose." he mumbled.

"You're doing it again." she said, a teasing tone to her voice.

"What." he asked.

"You talk and ruin it. Just be quiet and spin me." she said with a little smile.

"You know, if it weren't for the fact that you _just_ married one of the most dangerous men on the planet, I might just think you were flirting with me." he smirked.

"In your dreams, pal." she replied, her smile now replaced with a snarky glare. Following her advice, he shut his mouth. Since then, he had been surprising her with both his presence and his skill on the floor. He was, for once, a gentleman and when his dance was up, he kissed her hand and graciously handed her off to Steve as a slow song started up. It seemed as though she'd be making her way through the Avengers. Steve was pulling her closely to him for the song. She spotted Logan across the floor, with some curvy redhead that Steve pointed out to her as Natasha, the Black Widow. Stark had found Scott and the two were talking briefly before both of them looked to K, serious expressions on their faces. Her buzz from Logan started to wear off suddenly. So serious. This couldn't be a good sign. Steve dipped her at the end of the song, earning a smile from her when Logan cut in front of a massive long haired blonde man, kissing her palm as he pulled her from Steve.

"Maybe next time around, bub. She's all mine for this one." he said over his shoulder to the blonde, kissing her when he turned back to her.

"Looks like there may be trouble brewin'." he whispered low. "Not sure what the story is, but they don't want to interrupt." he said as he kissed her behind the ear.

"Well, they can. As long as they don't get you killed, I can probably find a way to wait for an extended love fest." she told him, trying to be sensible. She didn't want him to change his whole life just because they were now married. Of course, she really didn't know what it meant for her, and how she would go about her business, but she felt like it would work out as long as they stuck together. He moved away from her neck just long enough to kiss her properly.

"Maybe I don't wanna wait." he said "maybe I wanna start right now." He had one hand slid up to cradle her head and the other was at the small of her back, pulling her close. He didn't stop when her knees started to buckle, making her wrap her arms around him for support as she whispered in his ear, begging him to control himself, earning a growl and a bite. He maneuvered her to a dark corner, picking her up and setting her on a table so he could slip between her legs. She bit his ear with her canines, trying to get him back, but just firing him up further. This was devolving quickly.

Scott cleared his throat, looking at the ground.

"Go 'way Slim." Logan said between nips and kisses, his back to him. K's eyes fluttered as she tried to pull Logan back a bit.

"Might be important, Lo-" he shut her up with a kiss. Scott turned to Stark, who was smirking over their mutual teammate's rejection of anything outside of the attention of his new wife.

The two team leaders were soon joined by Hank, Steve and the bulky blonde, who was the one to try to capture Logan's attention this time.

"My friend, we must have words now, your woman will wait for you." he said, Logan still ignoring them. K opened an eye, managing to look up at them over his shoulder as he moved back to her neck and shoulder.

"Mr. Howlett, this looks important." K said, purring.

"What I'm doin' now is important." he growled out, grabbing a handful of her hair and pulling her head backwards as he went towards her throat.

"I'd hit him with some lightning if it wouldn't hit the girl." The blonde mumbled, crossing his arms. K's eyes popped open.

"What did you just say?" she asked, pulling her head forward as Logan growled at her. The blonde locked eyes with her and repeated himself more clearly. She was looking at him with her eyebrows drawn together. She could feel Logan smiling against her skin as he finally let go of her hair and sighed as he composed himself. Stark took it on himself to introduce them, seeing as Logan was still gathering himself.

"Be kind, K. This big guy is a God to some." Stark said. She rolled her eyes, it sounded like bullshit to her. "No, really. That's Thor. Norse God." K's eyebrows went up as she tipped her head to look Logan in the eye.

"You roll with Gods?" she asked, disbelief on her face. Logan nodded.

"Just the one." he replied.

"And you neglected to tell my little Scandinavian ass …. why?" she asked as Thor smiled.

"Didn't think it mattered. Now I'm not sure I want ya around him. You're not into worshiping the Norse crew are ya?" Logan said, giving her a look. She smiled and kissed him, her hands on either side of his face. Thor cleared his throat, and Logan broke the kiss, one hand sliding up her leg as he finally looked over his shoulder at the growing group of team mates. Only Hank was grinning at him, the rest looked irritated that he'd ignored them for so long.

"I just got married. You don't have my attention or my loyalty right now. Leave me be, I'm busy." he said, trying not to growl too loudly.

"All due respect, but it's not just you we need to talk to." Steve said, arms crossed. Logan scowled at him and slid his hand back out from under her dress. She took a deep breath and untangled herself from him, smoothing out her dress as she slid off the table he'd set her on. Logan put his hands behind him, trapping her behind him as he held onto the table.

"We're not going to take her, Logan." Steve said, watching his old friend as he tensed up.

"What is it." he barked. "What's so flamin' important?"

"Hydra infiltration. Now or never, save the world kind of issue. Believe me, no one here wanted to interrupt your sexy time." Stark said quickly, looking nervous as he watched Logan. He nodded once.

"How long's this gonna take?" Logan asked as K's arms slipped around his chest.

"Maybe a week – at most." Steve said, waiting for an answer. It took Logan a minute before he sighed and nodded his head.

"What else, Cap?" Logan asked gruffly. "You said you needed to talk to both of us. What else."

Cap's eyes flicked to K just for a second before meeting Logan's stare.

"We need to ask K if she can help too. It's nothing in the line of fire, I swear." Cap said, hands up, trying to look passive.

"What. Is it." He growled.

"There's a threat to the Avengers tower, we need her to stick with Stark for a week or so while we hunt down the threat." Cap said, Logan shaking his head instantly. "Logan, wait. His armor isn't working, and Hydra knows his body guards. We need someone that can go under cover with him, posing as a secretary or someone that he keeps close until he can fix the computer problem and get Jarvis tuned to scan for poisons."

"And you thought of her first?" Logan snarled, ready to start shredding. Thor stepped in front of Stark.

"They know who everyone else is, Logan. She's an unknown." Cap said, trying to calm him.

"She's my wife, Cap. I don't want her any where near that." Logan replied, K watching the exchange like a tennis match. The two argued back and forth until Scott stepped in.

"Logan, why don't you leave it to her to decide?" Scott said reasonably. "Give her the facts, and let her choose."

"Scott, we need a new person on this! You can't -" Steve started, Scott holding up his hand as he cut him off.

"It's her choice. You talk to Logan like she's his property. She's a smart woman, let her choose." Scott said, leaving both the Avengers and K a bit wordless. Steve sighed and turned to K.

"We need help. Stark's armor isn't functioning and he can't figure out why. He's basically unprotected and these agents have been trying to take him out. He's lost 3 bodyguards in the past week, and there are so many things coming to a head that we can't keep him with another Avenger. His schedule for his businesses is too busy and public for him to blow it off right now, even with Pepper covering a good part of it. We have it from a good source that now Madame Hydra is involved and is now in the states. We'd ask a junior SHIELD agent, but honestly, we need someone that can sniff out poison and toxins. Can you help us?"

"Wait, Vipers' involved? NO. No fuckin' way, forget it. Assign me to Stark if you have to, I'll hound dog it for him. That bitch can't get anywhere near her." Logan growled. "Lost 3 body guards. You still tryin ta tell me she won't be in the line of fire?"

"Logan, your problems with Viper not withstanding, you're needed elsewhere." Hank interjected.

"Why not one of Thor's lackeys? Don't he have some band of lunatics that can follow him around?" Logan asked, just lashing out now.

"Sif is not immune to poisons, friend." Thor said quietly.

"Neither is K. What about one of yer other buddies then? Gotta be someone else." Logan said, determined to keep K safe with the X-Men.

"Logan, even if K doesn't do the job, she'll probably end up taking your place on a mission or two in your absence." Scott said as Logan tensed further. "She's not going to end up staying home waiting for you."

Logan turned to K, concern etched into his features and took her hands in his.

"I don't want you in the line of fire, darlin', and I sure as hell don't want you anywhere near Viper. She's trouble." he said miserably. She leaned forward and kissed him.

"They're only asking me because I can do what you do." she whispered in his ear. She turned to Cap. "You guys are talking Greek to me. Who the hell are all these people and what makes this Viper broad such a big problem?" K asked as Logan slid next to her.

"Short version, Hydra are the bad guys. We've been fighting them since the great war." Cap said.

"And Viper is Logan's ex-wife." Tony tossed out there. "and, you know, she's super evil and likes to poison well, everyone." K blinked a few times, taking in the fact that Logan neglected to disclose that he was once married, and to a bad guy no less. She stared at Logan a moment, eyes narrowing.

"What would I have to do?" She asked, as her eyes locked on Cap.

"Pose as one of Stark's associates." Cap answered, looking hopeful that they'd captured her attention.

"What associate. If there's not an opening in the organization, what is my cover. You keep skipping that." She said, her patience slipping. Cap sighed and Stark took a step back.

"His … lady friend." Cap mumbled, looking at the ground. K froze, her eyes narrowed to slits as she glared from one Avenger to the next. Logan started to growl. K slid her hand on his shoulder and he slipped his arm behind her, resting his hand on her hip. She swatted his hand away.

"Let me get this straight, because I don't want to misconstrue." K started, incredulity in her voice. "You want me to leave my _honeymoon_ to protect _him, while posing as his lover?_" She took a step forward, as Logan slipped his arm around her waist, holding her tightly as she made to spring at them, her claws flying out of her hands "_Are you out of your fucking __mind__?!"_ Cap stepped back just out of range of her claws as she took a swipe at him, slicing his tie and cutting his jacket.

"Easy with the claws!" he shouted as Logan slipped his arms around her chest and over her arms, holding her arms to her body until she calmed down enough to retract them, still fuming. Logan however nearly had a smile on his face, watching her ready to eviscerate one of his oldest pals for daring to suggest that cover story. He leaned forward and nuzzled his nose into her hair as she tried to shrug her shoulder up enough that he couldn't get to her neck.

"Knock it off, I don't want your kisses right now." she muttered. Logan was surprised and let her arms up, but didn't take his arms from around her. She closed her eyes and held her hands up to them, palms out while she took a moment to breathe and clear her head.

"When do you need Logan to leave?" she asked, still not opening her eyes.

"The sooner the better." Stark said, the sounds of the party drifting over to them in the silence of the corner they were in now.

"Give me three days." K said. "Three days with no contact from any of you. I expect to be left alone, with my husband for at least that long. Then, if he decides to go on this mission with you, I will go with Stark." she said as she opened her eyes, deadly serious. Logan looked crestfallen at her acceptance of Cap's mission. "If that isn't acceptable, too fucking bad." That however, got a smile from Logan.

"Three days isn't going to be soon enough." Cap said, looking panicked.

"Then you can just fuck right off." K said, hands on her hips. "I have a marriage to consummate, and already you people are getting in the middle of that. Three days and I will let him leave me. I will expect him to come back in the same condition that he left, or so help me God, I will stab every fucking one of you in the eye." She swore, that wicked low growl accenting her offer. Cap hesitantly nodded, looking shell shocked.

"Now, if you _gentlemen_ don't mind, my husband and I have to see how far we can push our healing factors." She said, anger still in her tone as she turned to Scott. "Please be sure to thank Heather and Jean for everything they did. Now make sure we aren't disturbed." Thor grabbed Logan's arm as he led K out.

"Congratulations friend. Be careful." he told him, wary of his fiery little clawed bride.

"Careful nothin' we got three days to fit in two weeks worth of sex." he smirked tossing K over his shoulder, earning a smile from her finally as he broke into a run, dragging her to their little love nest. The group stared after them a moment, Tony reiterating that there was no justice in the world anymore.


End file.
